'NSC recommendion for a more vigorous engagement in the Middle East peace, will not go beyond rhetoric...'

"... The focus on the budget has and will continue to push foreign policy into the background. Despite Obama’s joint newspaper article on Libya and Secretary of State Clinton’s NATO appearance, the US inclination for a deeper role in  Libya is limited. Pentagon officials tell us that Secretary of Defense Gates continues to make his case against deeper involvement and that his voice has proved decisive. Against this, the humanitarian argument is not going unheard. This could propel the US into a modest extension of its air power. Senior US officials tell us privately that they see Libya as a distraction from the greater sources of concern in the varying situations in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Implicit in all these is the long shadow of Iran about which Republican foreign policy strategists are warning.

In response to this, we hear that a debate is underway in the National Security Council to recommend a more vigorous engagement in the Middle East peace process by Obama. We doubt that this will go much beyond rhetoric. Almost overlooked in the Middle East turmoil is that relations with Pakistan have deteriorated in the wake of a recent visit to Washington by the Pakistan intelligence chief. This will bring complications for US policy in Afghanistan as the spring fighting season begins and the debate about US military drawdown rumbles on."