Skip to main content

Condi behind the eightball

Condi Rice is presently in the Middle East, supposedly in an attempt to broker a peace-deal. One has to ask what credibility Rice brings to the table given her and the USA's action in the Middle East, generally, and specifically during the recent Israel-Lebanon-Hezbollah conflict.

This report in the LA Times would suggest that Rice will be "pushing" to gain any traction in her efforts:

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, touring the Middle East in an attempt to build support for U.S. goals and allies, found herself Tuesday on the defensive about the Bush administration's search for partnerships and its efforts for democratic reform.

Meeting in Cairo with ministers of eight moderate Arab regimes, Rice was questioned on whether her desire to work with the countries masked an American desire to line up allies against the growing power of Iran.

The Egyptian foreign minister and dubious local media asked whether President Bush's campaign of democratic reform was nothing short of meddling by a country that doesn't accept election results it doesn't like."

Read the complete piece here - and don't hold your breath that Condi will achieve anything in her mission. How can she when she and the US aren't prepared to talk with the main players in the region?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives?  In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t...

Palestinian children in irons. UK to investigate

Not for the first time does MPS wonder what sort of country it is when Israel so flagrently allows what can only be described as barbaric and inhuman behaviour to be undertaken by, amongst others, its IDF. No one has seemingly challenged Israel's actions. However, perhaps it's gone a bridge too far - as The Independent reports. The Foreign Office revealed last night that it would be challenging the Israelis over their treatment of Palestinian children after a report by a delegation of senior British lawyers revealed unconscionable practices, such as hooding and the use of leg irons. In the first investigation of its kind, a team of nine senior legal figures examined how Palestinians as young as 12 were treated when arrested. Their shocking report Children in Military Custody details claims that youngsters are dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, have their wrists bound behind their backs, and are blindfolded and made to kneel or lie face down in military vehi...

Wow!.....some "visitor" to Ferryland in Newfoundland