Bush misses the point again

The news reports of the Bush speech in Israel all seem to focus on his backhanded way of being critical of Obama while ignoring the actual lack of substance in what Bush is saying.

“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Mr. Bush said.

Well, no, that's not why we should be willing to talk with our enemies. We should talk with them because the act of listening to them can go a long way to defuse anger and resentment.
The purpose of talking is so that we can listen, not so that we can proselytize.

“We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Bush is probably right that talking with Hitler would have not done much good. But if Europe had listened to Germany in the 1920's and early 1930's it's very likely that Hitler would have never risen to power in Germany.

UPDATE:
Some bloggers seem to miss the point also.