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Rice Embraces Mideast Errands

[AP/Yahoo] Anne Gearan - After initially resisting the idea, Secretary of State Rice, the top envoy for a Bush administration that once sniffed at Mideast peacemaking as a fool's game, is shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and getting into nitty-gritty obstacles that have blocked progress. Rice left the region Monday but plans to return in less than two weeks. She's deep in the Mideast weeds now, tossing off jargon about roadblocks and checkpoints and asking for assessments on whether Israel should lift this roadblock or that one. The situation on the ground makes the goal of a deal by year's end look somewhat absurd. The Palestinians, while stationing police in key cities to keep down crime gangs, have done little to dismantle what Israel calls "the terrorist infrastructure" of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The big elephant in the room is Hamas, whose control of Gaza makes implementing any peace deal extremely problematic. After Hamas capitalized on Israel's 2005 Gaza withdrawal to launch rocket attacks on southern Israel, the Jewish state is highly unlikely to evacuate any more territory unless it can be assured against a repeat. Olmert himself has said no deal will be implemented until Abbas regains control of Gaza.
2008-05-06 01:00:00
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