Update to "Syriana" .. regurgitates the "No Deal with Syria" line ...

Oddly, the commentators on the Feltman-Mustapha Meeting" just started coming out of the wood works, when no previous mention of the 'meeting' is located anywhere. Laura Rosen, at MoJo, got this 'update' from someone who regurgitates the "no more deals with Syria ... Lebanese sovereignty is a US priority":

" A Washington Middle East hand who did not want his name used writes:

... The Feltman-Mustapha discussion had nothing to do with a potential deal and everything to do with the US government communicating to the Syrian one the elements it has about the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor. [...] Any opening to or quid pro quo with Syria for the current administration will be conditioned on tangible positive steps on Lebanon. I suspect that the next administration, even a Democratic one, will have essentially the same policy, but with arguably a lower priority.

The substance of the US position toward talks is simple: you want to do it, do it. But we are not sitting at the table unless we have something tangible on Lebanon. We are not risking our multilateral policy, consensus with Europeans and Arabs, credibility, alliances, geopolitical interests to test the improbable proposition that talking to Syria will lure it from Iran, which is Israel’s primary goal.

What is important to understand is that in the 1990s, Syria would go through the US to get to Israel and Israel would go through the US to get to Syria.

Today, roles have changed. Syria hopes to bring the US to the table by calling for a resumption of talks. Israel is worried that its options for dealing with Iran are shrinking. The last card is talking to the Syrians. Also the problems on the Palestinian track make the Syrian one more appealing in tactical terms.

This whole peace negotiations business is a smoke-screen for much different calculations on the Syrian and Israeli sides..."