The problem with diplomatic solutions reahced with liars is that liears cnnot be trusted and will break any promises they make. That sounds like simple concept to grasp, but it is astonishing how many people here and abroad have yet to learn this valuable lesson. That is why it is so futile to bleat every morning and evening--as most of television's chattering classes do(with a few notable and welcome exceptions)--that the Bush Administration …showed first 75 words of 808 total…

…showed last 75 words of 808 total…place. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed. We insisted on and obtained unconditional surrender. The murderous regimes were changed and new governments installed--governments that turned defeated former foes into warm and lasting friends and allies. Had we listened to the false counsel of those who feared unconditional surrender was too harsh a demand, it is likely that Germany, Japan, probably Italy and some others would still be run by the political heirs of those who started WWII.