Condi fails yet again

The news, yesterday, was that Condi Rice had, as part of her recent swing through the Middle East, secured some sort of peace conference in relation to the Middle East by the end of the year. It is all ephemeral of course! The Saudis are questionable starters in the process and the position of the Israelis is suspect - as a piece from the LA Times reveals. Bottom line Israel is already hedging on its role and position in even attempting a resolution of its long-standing dispute with the Palestinians.

"Scrambling to shape an agenda for an autumn peace conference, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Israeli and Palestinian leaders Thursday to start tackling the core issues impeding settlement of their decades-old conflict.

But Israeli officials told Rice that it was too soon to discuss "final status" issues, in part because their negotiating partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, had yet to prove capable of stopping attacks on Israel by armed Palestinian groups.

With Israel balking, the best Rice could achieve during her visit to the region this week was an understanding that the parties would first try to reach an "agreement of principles" about the nature of a future Palestinian state."

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