FACTBOX: Reaction to Bush "appeasement" remark

(Reuters) - President George W. Bush stirred up the campaign to replace him by suggesting on Thursday that Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama's pledge to talk to Iran's leader represented "the false comfort of appeasement."

Following is reaction to Bush's comments:

BARACK OBAMA, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND ILLINOIS SENATOR

"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack.

"It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy -- to pressure countries like Iran and Syria.

"George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally, Israel."

JOHN MCCAIN, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND ARIZONA SENATOR

McCain did not repeat the word "appeasement" but he criticized Obama's foreign policy approach of being willing to speak directly to U.S. foes. He singled out Iran, questioning why a U.S. president would want to talk to someone like Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama. It shows naivete and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country that says that Israel is a stinking corpse (and) that is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel. My question is, what does he want to talk about?"