President should name Powell his Middle East envoy

DallasBlog.com | Tom Pauken:

“Events are spinning out of control in the Middle East with the possibility of a wider war looming and the potential for major regime change in the Arab world which would further radicalize the Middle East. The time has come for President Bush to take bold and decisive action to bring hostilities to a halt in that region while sending a signal that the United States is willing to be an honest broker once again in the quest to secure a permanent peace in the Middle East.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

President Bush is not interested in negotiating peace in the Middle East. President Bush is interested in total victory in the war on terror. No cease fire. No negotiated peace. Only victory. In his view (as expressed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) the current fighting is not so much a bad thing as the necessary "birth pangs of a new Middle East."

For President Bush to adopt Mr Pauken's recommendations would be an admission of failure, an admission that victory in the war on terror is not achievable through military means. He's not one to admit failure, in general, and certainly not in this instance.

But Mr Pauken is right about one thing. Expecting the President to listen to Mr Pauken's proposal is a "pipe dream."