Doubt as Bush set to visit Mideast

[struggle4progress]

Chances called slim for breakthroughs as final year begins
By Mark Silva | Washington Bureau
January 7, 2008

... analysts say the president will arrive in the region with too little to promise and too late in the game during this -- his first visit to Israel as president -- to offer any real hope of securing a lasting peace ...

"It's just a simple fact of life," said Anthony Cordesman, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "You can't, as president, leave a legacy in the form of an agenda for the next president. The only legacy you can leave is what you actually accomplished while you were in office. And at this point in time, with effectively a year to go, your legacy is what you've done, not what you would like to do." ...

"Just showing up isn't going to convince anybody," said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on the Middle East. "He's a lame duck. He's got one year to go. Just showing up is something you do in your first six months -- not your last year." ...

"This president doesn't like to tee things up. He's a closer. He likes to close deals," <Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for International and Strategic Studies> said. "And this deal is not ready to be closed. It requires a lot of setting up and a lot of tedious work, exactly the kind of work this president thinks isn't his job and doesn't particularly enjoy." ...

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