A juxtaposition

Charles Krauthammer, December 8, 2006:

Some say that the Litvinenko murder was so obvious, so bold, so messy -- five airplanes contaminated, 30,000 people alerted, dozens of places in London radioactive -- that it could not possibly have been the KGB.

But that's the beauty of it.  Do it obvious, do it brazen, and count on those too-clever-by-half Westerners to find that exonerating.  As the president of the Central Anarchist Council (in G.K. Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday") advised: "You want a safe disguise, do you? . . . A dress in which no one would ever look for a bomb?  Why, then, dress up as an anarchist, you fool!"

The other reason for making it obvious and brazen is to send a message.  This is a warning to all the future Litvinenkos of what awaits them if they continue to go after the Russian government.  They'll get you even in London, where there is the rule of law.  And they'll get you even if it makes negative headlines for a month.

Charles Krauthammer, August 6, 1999:

The Clinton administration's China grovel has gone from merely embarrassing to potentially dangerous.  The past two months of our relationship with China are a chronicle of appeasement that has, predictably, made things demonstrably worse.

The story begins with the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.  A single expression of regret should have been enough.  Instead, we have high American officials falling over themselves in repeated attempts to apologize -- and being rebuffed.  The president himself tries several times to call Chinese President Jiang Zemin, until, a week after the bombing, Jiang magnanimously consents to pick up the receiver.  By the time he is through, Clinton has offered five public apologies.

In the end, the Chinese deign to partially accept a most abject statement of American remorse (taking the apology, rejecting the explanation).  And to fully accept our proffered $4.5 million in compensation.