Mr. Baker, your services no longer needed

June 04, 2007
Debate
The second Democratic debate gave Governor Bill Richardson a chance to retract on his suggestion to nominate James Baker as his special envoy to the Middle East. And he did. What will he do with former President Bill Clinton? Apparently, he will give him the same job he already tapped Baker for. From an Israeli perspective, that's probably a more convenient choice.

After the first round of debates (both Democratic and Republican) I complained that "only Iraq and Iran - the current, urgently problematic country and the state that threatens the future - were mentioned substantially more than Israel. It is not certain that Israel wants to be included in this group, even if it is clear that its name was always mentioned positively and the others always negatively, since this is the group that is described in big letters by the label: 'Caution - dangerous area!' Therefore, we would be happier to be forgotten a little."

Last night Israel was basically left alone. The only mention came from Richardson. Something about the great ally that needs "buttressing". He gave no further details.

Iran
Joe Biden had a somewhat strange statement on Iran in the debate. The Iranians, he claimed, are "a decade away" from a nuclear bomb. Since he didn't cite any sources, it's hard to even begin to question this statement. Other than that, he also gave the now common assessment that "Iran is very weak" - which makes the current failure to curb its policies look even more ridiculous than they already are.

More about Iran came from Senator Clinton who said that she "believes that we should have been using diplomacy for a number of years now. I am I guess pleased that the administration is starting to talk to the Iranians, but it is way overdue? In my administration, diplomacy - patient, careful diplomacy, the kind of diplomacy that Bill Richardson did for my husband, that really gets people to stay with it over time. Are you always going to get good results? No. But you've got to start the process. However, we still have to make it clear that Iran having a nuclear weapon is absolutely unacceptable? We have to try to prevent that at all costs."

Is this reassuring? On the one hand, one hears the "at all costs." On the other hand, she said "try to prevent," not "prevent."

Darfur
I've been impressed with Senator Joseph Biden's position on Darfur for quite a while now. I still am, although I am beginning to have some doubts, due to independent reporting on one hand, and the mainstream media reporting on the other. A story in Sunday's Washington Post was one of the best I read so far. Check it out.

Iraq
Yes, the debate between Democratic presidential hopefuls was all about Iraq. You can read about it here. Syria was not mentioned, not once, Lebanon was not discussed, the Palestinians weren't an issue. There was no serious debate on the Middle East.