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Peace This Year

Condoleeza Rice recently said that she still thinks it’s possible to have peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict by the end of the year.  I greatly admire this woman’s faith in the face of these countervailing tendencies:

1. Prime Minister Olmert of Israel is about to be arrested and the cops say he will have to step down.
2. Mahmoud Abbas of the PA is 73 years old and is unlikely to last long enough to bring peace; He doesn’t look very healthy.  There is no designated successor.  Except maybe Hamas.
3. Creation of a Palestinian State, which is what Secretary Rice is referring to, is not likely to bring peace.  It will bring about the next phase of the war.  Hamas will probably take over, anyway.
4. Hamas is still sworn to the destruction of Israel.
5. Iran is likewise dedicated to the downfall of Israel, and is close to developing nuclear weapons.
6. Hezbollah is widely reported to have re-armed and then some, and is building a regular military army.
7. If Iran builds a nuclear bomb, Israel will have to attack both Hamas and Hezbollah, in simple self defense.  They get their arms from Iran and their suicidal and murderous habits mean they cannot be trusted.
   
8. Halfway measures against Iran would probably be like halfway measures against Saddam Hussein; To be completed later.  Or like the compromise armistice of 1918; to be followed by Hitler and World War Two. 
   
9. If Israel or the US takes down Iran with military force, many in the region will be Very Irritated.
10. If neither Israel nor the US takes down Iran, many in the region will die in a nuclear war.
11. Hamas is shelling the fuel depots that supply Gaza, forcing a shutdown.  They are still trying to commit some sort of large scale suicide, or at least some sort of large scale economic self-mutilation.    Since everybody knows they’re doing this, they must know they aren’t going to get sympathy for their troubles.  Maybe Hamas is just insane.   Insanity is not good for peace.
    

We have to wonder what the Bush administration is up to with the Israel/Palestine situation.  The (Bill) Clinton administration did a similar thing with the Arafat-at-Camp-David process.  This was probably the cause of the Second Intifada.  Great job with the peace-making, guys.

We have to ask whether there is personal motivation for Presidents to indulge in unrealistic end-of-term peacemongering.   Are they jealous of the Carter legacy of peace?  Do they want to build a bigger and better Presidential Library?  Are the Saudis or somebody offering big bucks for a good settlement?  What’s the story?

And why exactly is Israel still supplying food and fuel to it’s enemies in Gaza?  Are they simply trying to prove to those last die-hard doubters that indeed logic and proportion are completely absent?  Could the Israelis be as insane as Hamas?

Is it just something in the water?  Israel is trying to provide free fuel to Gaza, and Hamas is trying to blow it up.  Am I the only one who sees a problem here?