Robin Wright, writes in the WaPo, here
""Iran will be the 5,000-pound elephant in the room, even though it's not present," said former U.S. peace negotiator Aaron David Miller. "It's in everyone's calculation and motivation . . . [plus] the impact of Hamas and the role it can play in wreaking havoc with whatever happens in Annapolis. . . . The balance of power is not in favor of peacemakers but in favor of the troublemakers."
"They've [Arabs] decided that the problem in the Middle East begins with 'I' but ends with 'N'," a senior U.S. official said in a recent interview. "The problem in the Middle East now isn't Israel anymore, or the Israelis, it is Iran. . . . I think the Arab states believe [the peace] . . . needs to be resolved, as part of their effort to deal with the problem of Iran."
Iran will still have leverage in the event of peace, Arab officials concede. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said yesterday that any peace agreement would eventually have to include Hamas, since it controls Gaza and half the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, the two major Palestinian parties -- Hamas and Fatah, which controls the West Bank -- would need to join a national unity government, he said."
1 comment:
I will always be amazed with the wishful thinking of "senior US officials" who keep on pontificating that the problem, according to Arabs, is no longer Israel but Iran. If that 'senior US official' is talking about Arab governments, he is quite right. But ignoring the Arab people is a huge mistake. Arabs (the people) have a diametrically opposed view. THe problem has been, is, and will always be Israel. Now you can add the US and their allies in Arab officialdom. Changes are coming and not necessarily to the like of Arab governments and "US senior officials". But, in a world where hype is analysis, blissful ignorance is viewed as 'wisdom and farsightedness'.
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