[New York Times] Steven Erlanger - With regard to the Annapolis meeting, "There's never been less skepticism about the peaceful intentions of the leadership of the other side," said David Makovsky, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "But there's never been more skepticism about their capabilities to deliver." "If you don't control the guns and a monopoly on force, people don't respect you," said former American negotiator Aaron David Miller. "Will an Israeli prime minister make existential concessions to a man who doesn't control the guns?" So long as Hamas controls Gaza, suggests Robert Malley, another former U.S. negotiator, it also controls the timetable for peace. "All this is a fantasy unless internal Palestinian divisions are healed," he said.
2007-11-27 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive