Epstein Secrets

pit for diplomatic energy rather than as a priority. If Obama is reelected, he will have no Middle East hands to whom he can turn. Mideast advisor Dennis Ross has left; Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, departed for a post at the United Nations; and Deputy Secretary of S

ited Nations; and Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will in all likelihood leave when a new secretar

left; Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, departed for a post at the United Nations; and Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will in all likelihood leave when a new secretary of state is appointed or a few months later. In January 2009, Obama appointed Mitchell as specia

t. The second noteworthy development last week helps explain why this kind of behavior occurs. It was an opinion article in the Washington Post by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), entitled, "The U.S. can meet Israel halfway on Iran." It laid out a s

effectively. This explains why, for example, a routine meeting at the U.S. Embassy between several opposition leaders and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns was depicted by the state-controlled media as if the United States were entering another Munich Pact — only this time not with Hitler but with lead

on leaders and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns was depicted by the state-controlled media as if

d to the momentum in Baghdad. "The Iranians are in the position of needing to pursue diplomacy, if anything, even more than they did before," said Dennis B. Ross, one of Mr. Obama's senior advisers on Iran until last year and now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It's not like they have any

deal out there to avoid war,' " said R. Nicholas Burns, who led talks with Iran EFTA_R1_02205127 EFTA0