'Rehearsing' the American Headache

The American waits to attend tomorrow's preparatory meeting in Geneva, with his schedule frequently changing. It appears that most, if not all of it, will fail to serve his interests.

Still, his expressions impart a double ambiguity, as the entire burden begins to snowball once it is placed on his back.

Remarkably, the American attends, but he is still carrying his old briefcases and gripping his papers as he repeatedly attempts to force both coordination and withdrawal from the front lines. He stalls for time by pushing to arm the insurgents and equip the region, thereby fulfilling the Israeli's desire for escalation. Thus, there is no end to what the region will witness, as positive developments will not emerge in a timely manner, if at all — just as the American wants.

He attends with his eye on his Turkish counterpart, who stumbles bitterly in the opening meeting while discussing the best remaining options. The American's heart is with the Israeli, who is aware of his predicament after taking many uncalculated risks. The umbilical cord that ties him to the Europeans is shamelessly exposed; meanwhile, he is handcuffed to his mercenaries in the region, who must swallow their bitter disappointment and isolation in calculating their ground losses and political defeats.

On the other side of the aisle, the Russian appears — perhaps bringing documents that have not yet been made public. He must have rehearsed extensively, for he dictates to the table his unequivocal evidence and irrefutable arguments. Likewise, he describes clearly the principles that the Russian state had devised from the outset, which upholds the pace of escalation.

Despite the U.N.'s planned conference in Geneva, commissioned by the sly American fox, U.N. documents alone are not enough to both compensate for the American's failures and fix its own points of weakness. Then again, perhaps there is a plan for when it has been neutralized, or when its authority has expired due to its statute of limitations. However, it is not acting justly when it summons the mission's sponsor, who witnessed the agreement that Jeffrey Feltman implemented behind the scenes and who has always been the mission's exclusive guarantor.

Today, the American, who bought and sold until he could no longer distinguish the two, searches for those who both sold and lent to him. If he purchased with interest or in installments, time is no longer on his side. Now we see that same American, who has resisted the winds of change, begging others to wait for him and seeking respite from those who have already overtaken him.

During his trip to Geneva, the shocking NATO reports restrain him. He faces the disappointment of his European allies as attempts to arm the terrorists create an additional burden. Meanwhile, his meandering positions increase the headache that haunts the Gulf's sheikdoms, which tremble from the Turkish "rehearsal" that is still unfolding. Indeed, they realize that there is more to come.

The connections between attacks on the ground and political calculations are manifest, resembling a contagious headache that afflicts both the American and those within his government's machinery. Meanwhile, the periphery is cracking at the hands of terrorists. His government recognizes both the panic of its financiers and the absurdity of his authority, for the evidence remains only with the prosecutor.

It is neither a matter of measuring inventory, nor of innuendo regarding priorities and promises. Rather, it is about positions that must be taken after years of neglect, during which time they have acquired undesirable traits. In relation to them, both connotations and equilibrium have changed — all of which must be corrected if we are to see the light at the end of the tunnel.