Sunday October 14, 2007

I've Been Thinking:

The US Secretary of State is in the Middle East for a few days.
Her mission is to help Palestinian and Israeli diplomatic teams come up with a workable document to take to the Annapolis Conference.

Finally.
Finally, Secretary Rice is taking a realistic approach in the Middle East.
Finally, a sign that Secretary Rice sees and understands the dilemma posed by growing expectations of the parties in the Middle East.

Publicly, Palestinian leadership has raised the level of expectations so high that any and every conference will inevitably fail - it is all contrived, a ploy, a blackmail tactic.
Using rhetoric and the media they have created a situation in which any compromise will be seen as failure. They are publicly entrenching themselves in negotiating positions way, way beyond the realm of anything attainable from the point of view of either the United States or Israel.

Privately and in bilateral leadership discussions there seems to be some significant flexibility shown by the Abbas.

Interesting, isn't it?
We have a problem.

Read my new book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595550739