Word: tactics
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...Assad's avoidance of confidence-building measures has proven a winning bargaining tactic. The more Syrian provocations erode Barak's political capital with Israelis, the more pliable Barak's negotiating position seems to become. To hasten an agreement, in recent weeks Barak has made subtle but significant concessions. He hinted at acquiescing to Syria's incessant demand that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights down to the June 4, 1967 borders by asserting that previous Israeli prime ministers have conceded the same. Now Barak ponders dropping the demand for a continued Israeli presence on the Mount Hermon early warning station...
Some of you Americans, like me, may have countered such angry Europeans with the claim that our parents/grandparents/Ronald Reagan saved Europe from Nazis/Communists/boy bands. This tactic is especially useful against the French, whose military motto before 1940 was, "The best defense is 237 official varieties of cheese." But here in Spain the fascists ruled until 1975 and 'N Sync is huge, so they pretty much owe us nothing. No matter--after a few days of genuine concern, I've now entered the dreaded Stage Three...
Perhaps he's picking up on the distant strains of a Buddhist chant - or maybe he's just feeling feisty. Whatever the reason, Vice President Al Gore has decided that offense is the best tactic when it comes to campaign finance reform, putting forward a new system in which a $1.7 billion public-private endowment would provide every candidate with his or her total campaign funding. The plan, which was met with lukewarm support from the patron saint of campaign finance, John McCain, would get rid of the direct ties between private contributors, federal officeholders and the two political parties...
Less egregiously rude, but equally unproductive, were those who called Buchanan to task for his past offenses, both spoken and written. There are certainly plenty of these, and bringing them to light is a legitimate tactic of criticism. But, for some reason, those at yesterday's address felt compelled to employ what I can only describe as a carpet-bombing approach. Rather than rationally probe Buchanan's extremely vulnerable ideas, each questioner, in their turn, would simply let out a maelstrom: "Mr. Buchanan, in 1977 you wrote 'x' about the Jews. In 1983 you wrote 'y' about black people...
...strong-minded, pragmatic man, Kadriu resolved to avoid glimpsing any reflection of himself in puddles left by the rain, even though he needed them to drink from. For his psychological survival, this was probably a good tactic. So grotesque were his injuries that when he finally judged it safe to return to Zaza, he went unrecognized. People scurried from him in horror until he produced a photo he happened to have in the back pocket of his jeans. It showed him and Valbona smiling for the camera a few months before, at Christmas 1998, days after they had married...