Damage Control in the Mideast
The Bush administration is groping toward a diplomatic firewall strategy that might help keep the inferno in Iraq from spreading in the Middle East.
This approach has two basic components: pushing harder for negotiations to establish a Palestinian state and creating a standing "Iraq neighbors' conference" to prevent states in the region from taking advantage of Iraq's chaos or being infected by it.
Officials stress that the diplomatic strategy isn't a static attempt at containment but a proactive effort to deal with issues at the heart of instability in the Middle East -- the long-festering wound of the Palestinian problem and the regional and sectarian tensions that are fueling violence in Iraq.… Seguir leyendo »