By Brigitte L. Nacos
After his party’s decisive defeat in last week’s mid-term election and a
meeting with his foreign policy advisers and, President Bush launched an
in-house/administration review of the situation in Iraq
According to the Post, National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley is overseeing the administration review. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is very much involved as well as Wright reports:
Rice has been doing “a lot of
thinking” about the issue over the past two months, State Department spokesman
Sean McCormack said yesterday. “The primary focus is on the State Department's
role in Iraq and are we pursuing the proper policies, are we seeking the right
objectives, are we using the right means to achieve those objectives, following
the right strategies and right tactics?" he told reporters.
Although coming belatedly, if Dr. Rice’s “a lot of thinking” about the Iraq
In his session with the Iraq Study Group, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
emphasized the importance of diplomacy in solving the Iraq situation and the problems in the Middle East, most of all the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As for Israelis and Palestinians, if Blair has a plan, I hope he revealed it to
the Baker-Hamilton Group. Nothing will be accomplished by Mohammad Shbair
replacing Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and the formation of a
Palestinian unity government unless Hamas and other Palestinian groups abandon
their terrorist activities once and for all and accept Israel
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