Its been awhile . . .

Ok, so I should begin by dusting off the edges of my little virtual space here. Tis true, dear reader, I have long been absent from my post as promulgator of passionate prosody, I stand in dereliciton of duty, drifting dreary - Alright, i'm done. The long and short of things, life has a way of pulling you by the tail when you least expect it. If this were a different sort of blog, I might actually indulge your curiosity, but alas, it is not.

So, onto topics, well, topical. The issue of "the long absence" is appropos today. During President Bush's recent (and only) trip to the Middle East, the chief executive and other members within the administration alluded to the idea that the Palestinian issue holds a place of particular centrality regarding the overall stability of the region. I will not delve into why this is correct or incorrect here, I believe I have done that in other entries. What strikes me as a basic blunder is, if it is in fact so central, why did it take you seven years to get your ass over there? Truly, pardon my detour into the parlance of our time, but really, is anyone buying any of this? I can tell you - with great confidence - who isn't buying it: the Arab world.

Comprehensive peace between Palestinians and Israeli's, greater freedom from "terror:" in the greater Middle East, a democratic Iraq, a weakened Iran. I really hardly even understand the motivation to have him go there in the first place. Bush is the first American president to conclude that the "facts on the ground" will likely prevent a Palestinian State from wholly regaining land up to the '67 border. he visits Hosni Mubarak and stresses "Egypt's" vital role in partnering for a resolution o the Arab and Israeli conflct, but can't be recieved in Cairo because both he and Mubarak know well that throngs of moderate, democratically minded Egyptians will wonder why The U.S. president gestures for peace with one hand, then embraces tyrants with the other. Meanwhile, back in Riyadh, the gilted house of Saud stand with arms open as Bushie promises high tech artillery and precision guided weapons to help contain Iran. Khamenei is cackling somewhere and Ahmadinejad is nearly choking on his luleh kabob.

Too little, and at times too much, too late Mr. President. The clock cannot be turned back on Iran's emergence as regional hegemon. Furthermore the shear audacity of the blatant double speak that has characterized this administrations general strategy in the region has worn thin, and the guise has given way to the truth: The Greater Middle East project has failed. In its pathetic wake lie the bodies of men, women and children who did not ask to be a part of this history. Thousands of broken homes and more broken hearts. The people of the region are not waiting for al-mahdi, they are not trying to destroy the West. They want to raise their families, see their children prosper, watch as their ways and traditions are carried on through time and contribute to their communities, just like the rest of us. Its time the people of the Middle East be treated with such dignity, and to that end I suggest Bush be asked not to return. Might not be a bad start . . .