Two party hacks of the United States' key Middle East officials have criticized the Bush administration's lack of involvement in Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking. In remarks made last week at a new conference in Paris, former U.S. envoys to the Middle East Dennis Ross and Robert Malley commented on whether the Middle East peace process can be re-launched. "In the past four and a half years we've been the least prominent. Rather than engaging, we disengaged. Instead of building the Golden Gate Bridge, we built a footbridge," said Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator under the Bill Clinton administration. Ross was responsible for shaping U.S. policy in the region. His new book, "The Missing Peace-the Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace," recounts his 12-year involvement in the area. He is currently a fellow at the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as well as chairman of an Israeli think tank, the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute.
Malley was Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli affairs from 1998-2000, and is now the Middle East and North Africa program director at the International Crisis Group, which works to prevent conflict worldwide.
| Doesn't seem like either's been paying much attention. |
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