Yes, this is good journalism, the facts are there and the problem is outlined except for one missing but very important element that stands out like the elephant in the room that everyone pretends not to see; the Israeli lobby that will obstruct any meaningful effort to achieve peace with the Palestinians for the rest of Obama's term in office. He's got so much on his plate domestically that it would be foolhardy to address this issue now in an effective manner.

This is an opinion piece that says what needs to be said -- but that no one seems willing to -- about the lack of courage, backbone and just plain smarts in Obama's foreign policy. If we want a chance of real peace in the Middle East, Obama will have to follow his own earlier advice and "talk to our enemies." (We also have to re-examine why our enemies and Israel's have to be the same...)

Tony Karon is quite right to suggest the US should be getting Israel out of the Golan Heights, to make it easier to have better relations with Syria. Karon mentions the utter stupidity of Condleezza Rice's approach to the problems Israel has with Lebanon and Hezbollah. Obama' s effort to isolate Iran, and to isolate Hezbollah and Hamas as part of that strategy, is ill-considered.