New York Times, 5/20/07

"If I thought that isolating Iran and Hamas was working, I'd continue it. But it manifestly is not -- any more than isolating Castro has worked. So either we find a way to draw them in or we'll be fighting them -- and the hard boys -- in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan for a long, long time."

New Republic Online, May 7, 2007

Too often the Bush administration has treated "talking" as if it means conceding. But talks are not synonymous with surrender.

By David Ignatius, Washington Post
Friday, April 20, 2007

For the past few years, the United States has been in self-imposed diplomatic isolation in the Middle East. But two paths out of that wilderness are becoming visible, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is moving cautiously down each one.

How the Bush Administration Left Israelis and Palestinians to Their Fate

The Washington Post - Sunday, April 29, 2007

This is the tragedy of America's situation now in the Promised Land: Never has the Arab-Israeli issue been more critical to our national interests and to our security, yet rarely have we been so uniquely ill-positioned to manage it -- let alone resolve it. In a post-9/11 era, the cause of Palestine drives recruits to al-Qaeda and helps generate lethal levels of anti-Americanism. But for almost seven years, the Bush administration has hung a "Closed for the Season" sign on serious Arab-Israeli diplomacy.

by Larry Zicklin, JTA, April 14, 2007

Opportunity comes infrequently, often disguised, but when it comes, you had better recognize it and do something about it because it may be a long time before it comes again.