President Obama is reportedly set to appoint former Sen. George Mitchell as America’s new special envoy to the Middle East.
Good luck to Mitchell with that.
Sure, the former Senate majority leader is as qualified for such a post as anyone: As US envoy to Northern Ireland under President Bill Clinton, he helped broker the 1998 Good Friday peace accords – a breakthrough that ultimately quieted a centuries-old conflict.
But the Mideast, to put it mildly, is a different kettle of fish. It hasn’t exactly suffered, after all, for a lack of skilled diplomats or peace processes. Rather, its problems lie in the bloody, insatiable dreams of Hamas thugs, Iranian mullahs and Wahabbi jihadists.
Peace today between Israel and the Palestinians seems as far off as ever. As Israel concludes its latest offensive in Gaza, Hamas appears weakened but defiant. How long before the thugs renew their violent provocations?
How long before the rockets fly?
That conflict, moreover, has been stoked by repressive Muslim governments – Iran and Syria, for instance – that see Israel- and America-bashing as a convenient distraction from their own shortcomings.
Still, if there is hope for Mitchell and his mission, it is the crystal clarity Obama evinced yesterday in diagnosing the strife: “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West,” the president warned, “know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”
He continued: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history.”
As indeed they are.
Nevertheless, a Mitchell appointment would represent a real opportunity for peace. Too bad the region’s savage thugs aren’t likely to take advantage of it.