Friday, May 02, 2008

Waiting For Regime Change in Washington

An Israel-Syria deal is looking increasingly possible, provided that there's firm US support. (It's a bit surprising that staunch US ally Turkey has stepped up to the plate in Bush's stead - score another one for moderate Islamism and the AKP!) Bush has taken the hardline neocon stance of trying to completely isolate Syria and pressuring Israel to do the same (while other less radical neocons seem to believe an Israeli detente with Syria could be the crucial step in breaking the back of an ascendant Iran - of course they also see it as a way of ignoring the need for Israeli concessions on the Palestinian front). Obama and Clinton are in the opposing Baker-Hamilton camp. But what's McCain's position? (Or does he even have one? I sense that we'll be asking that a lot in the next few months.)