At almost the same time that opposing Lebanese politicians announced they had reached an agreement after five days of tense negotiations in the Qatari capital, Doha, Syria and Israel unexpectedly declared that after a long diplomatic freeze they were resuming peace talks with the aim of Syria reclaiming the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967, and eventually normalizing relations.
Talks between the two countries broke off almost eight years ago, and despite repeated hints from Damascus and Jerusalem that there was interest from both sides to resume negotiations the George W. Bush administration put a damper on attempts to bring Syria to the negotiating table. The Oval Office holds the view that negotiations with countries deemed to be unfriendly to the United States are out of the question.
This line of thinking is proving to be a huge policy failure for the United States as Washington now finds itself on the outside looking in. Washington’s policy of giving the cold shoulder to Iran and Syria has backfired. With Iran, and to a lesser extent, Syria are now imposing their influence, as happened in Gaza through the Hamas takeover, and more recently in Beirut with Hezbollah. …
The interesting development … is the absence—make that the very noticeable absence—of the United States in both instances. The United States was not present in Qatar to back up the government it had repeatedly assured it would support through hell or high water. Nor was Washington involved in the breakthrough on the Syria-Israel front that is being mediated by Turkey.
So where in the world is Uncle Sam? Access the full article>>
