[Newsday] James Klurfeld - I've seen this movie before: A new administration is about to take office and a prestigious think tank issues a report saying that nothing is more important than trying to put the pieces together in the Mideast, especially on the Arab-Israeli dispute. Sorry, but this time around I'm skeptical. Where I become doubtful is when the report says there's a unique chance to engineer an agreement between Syria and Israel, which, if it could be done, would alter the strategic balance in the region. Ever since I first started to cover these topics in the mid-1970s, I've heard that the Syria track is ripe for an agreement with Israel. The problem is that neither the older Assad nor the younger one has been willing to actually make a deal with Israel when push came to shove. Why is this time different from all other times?
2008-12-04 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive