HEY, I WANT MY NAME OVER THE TITLE – AT 10:36 A.M. ET:  Like a fading Hollywood producer, Usama bin Laden takes credit for the Christmas day bombing attempt.  From Fox:

CAIRO — Usama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in a new audio message released Sunday threatening more attacks on the United States.

A senior U.S. intelligence official in Washington said there is "no evidence whatsoever" that bin Laden had any involvement on the Christmas Day attack — or even knew about it beforehand. The message suggests the Al Qaeda leader wants to appear in direct command of the terrorist group's many affiliates around the world at a time when some analysts have suggested he is mostly a figurehead.

In the minute-long recording carried by Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel, bin Laden addressed President Obama saying the Christmas attack was meant to send a message similar to that of the Sept. 11 attacks.

COMMENT:  The sad fact is that there will be some people who'll take this message seriously and demand that we change our foreign policy to accommodate bin Laden, the classic appeasement approach.  It was true back in 1940 that a number of Americans, including members of the establishment, wanted us to cut off aid to Britain so as not to anger Adolf Hitler.  The problem, of course, is that this approach essentially surrenders American independence and allows others to manipulate our foreign policy.  And appeasement usually whets the appetitute of the aggressor.  Rarely does it satisfy it.

January 24, 2010