[New York Sun] Youssef Ibrahim - The move to hire Blair by the Quartet would have been amusing if it were not so obviously misguided. What's the man supposed to do? The Palestinian Arab territories are run by two warring mini-authorities. Neither side has any constituents who can make a deal, keep one if it were made, or even deliver on any pact with other Arabs, let alone with the Israelis. That has been true for 60 years. In this circus, Abbas has been nothing but a convenient distraction. He has never commanded anyone and, like most so-called Palestinian Arab leaders, he is just one of a series of tired, old faces - unable to manage, but unwilling to move on. So Blair's first mission will be to reconcile the Palestinian Arabs - something that the Saudis, the Egyptians, and the Jordanians have been unable to do since 1948, when Britain gave up its mandate to run the Palestinian Arab territories. Blair has nothing special to contribute to this mess. Attempting to fiddle - again - with the one Middle East problem that has been a constant since 1948 is glaringly artificial and pretentious. Tony, we love you. Please get a life.
2007-06-29 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive