Thursday October 20, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

Every game has rules.
Only spoiled children change the rules of the game in the middle of play.
Spoiled children and players at United States foreign policy.

United States Middle East policy is often a game of Good Cop/Bad Cop.
With the Palestinians, Condi Rice is the good cop.
With the Israelis, Condi is the bad cop.
Confusing, but hey, that's the game of foreign MidEast policy.

That's why the US secretary of state chastises Israel for "settlement building" in the community of Maaleh Adumim, outside of Jerusalem. Then the US president comes in and demands that PA President Abbas crack down on terror and forbid Hamas from running in the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 25.

The hardest part of this game is figuring out who is who, what is what and if who or what are serious or if it all just a game ploy.

Does the Bush Administration really believe that the building in Maaleh Adumim is a problem? Not as much as they would have the Palestinians believe.
Do they actually think that terror groups must be dismantled? Yes!!!
Do they believe that Hamas should not be allowed to run for elections? Yes!!!!

Where does that leave us?
Waiting to see if anyone - Palestinian, Israeli or US understands rules of the game.