[adios]

It's related to my question about what concessions the U.S. would have to make in a new diplomatic initiative on Iraq that Kerry is proposing. I'm suspicious that it's a plan to sell Israel out more or less. My understanding is that France in particular and the EU in gerneral are not the best of friends with Israel shall we say.

One of Kerry's pillars in his Iraqi policy is securing more international support for resolving the situation in Iraq. Kerry's also criticized Bush repeatedly for bucking the UN for lack of a better term. Kerry's also called for a summit of European and Arab states to map out a plan for stabilizing Iraq. For Kerry's initiative to succeed IMO he'll have to offer up concessions from the Unitied States. People may disagree that the U.S. will have to make concessions but why on earth would a country like France, who has been opposed to the war from the gitgo and has stated that they're opposed to sending any kind of military assistance, change their position and help the U.S. at this point? In Kerry's own words the U.S. is stuck in a quagmire in Iraq as it's the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Why would any country want to get involved in a situation like that and offer financail and military asistance? In my mind common sense would tell you that the Kerry initiatives won't succeed without the U.S. offering something in return for significant military and financial support in Iraq.

With that in mind my suspicion is that Kerry would more or less sell Israel out as a concession for getting the support of EU countries like France and Germany as well as Arab countries who participate in the summit that Kerry's proposing. What else does the U.S. have to offer the countries that Kerry seeks support from?

It's possible that Kerry's blowing smoke with this idea but I think it's also possible that Kerry intends to actively enlist military support from EU countries and Arab countries. If he really is going to do this what does the U.S. have that these countries want in the Middle East? Leverage with Israel methinks.