Seldom in the annals of tinsel diplomacy has a show garnered such devastating reviews long before its opening curtain.
Dismissed and derided from every quarter, laughed off as a lukewarm sham, the Annapolis peace summit has confounded many Middle East analysts merely by the prospect of its actually taking place.
It may be a ludicrous what-if to even contemplate the notion, but if the Annapolis summit actually amounts to more than a passing footnote in the history of this region, at least we'll know some of the reasons why.
1. The settlers expect it to fail.
2. Hamas expects it to fail.
3. Ehud Barak expects it to fail.
4. All experts expect it to fail
5. The intifada was a failure.
6. The disengagement from Gaza was a failure.
7. No one really likes Iran
8. Syria is not convinced Annapolis will fail.
9. George Bush is desperate
Bush's speech at Annapolis may therefore be the key
if he becomes the first American president to openly declare support for a divided Jerusalem
clipped from: www.haaretz.com