Thursday, January 17, 2008

A spectacular mess

President Bush's trip to the Middle East was not an exercise in diplomacy. It was a travelling roadshow for America's failed policy in the region

By Michael Boyle
The Guardian

".....So to recap his trip: the president wants an Israeli-Palestinian peace, but won't work for it; he applauds the new de-Ba'athification laws without understanding it; he says he wants to leave Iraq, but wants to leave the decision to his subordinates; he wants to isolate Iran, but offers up bluster to an unmoved Arab public. He comes bearing billions in highly sophisticated weaponry, and leaves without any apparent concessions on oil production.

This is not an exercise in diplomacy. This is a travelling road show for a failed Middle East policy. What this trip has revealed is the extent to which President Bush's dreams of a democratic revolution in the Middle East have turned to dust. One can only hope that the next president will seize the opportunity to come up with a real strategy for the Middle East, and to begin to extricate America from President Bush's mess."

No comments: