STORY SUMMARY

US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint press conference with his counterpart Saudi’s Prince at the press hall in the Saudi Foreign Ministry in Riyadh, on March 4, 2013. (AFP PHOTO/STR)

John Kerry’s visit to the Middle East this week may be his first as U.S. secretary of state, but it is just his latest foray into the region and the latest in a well-trodden path of American diplomats coming into the region and making promises about progress that produce no concrete action.

Now, U.S. forays into the region are necessarily focusing on more urgent issues.

As a result the people of the Middle East have given up hope that a solution to the region’s woes will come from the U.S. They are fed up with empty promises and endless visits to diagnose a problem that is as clear as day.

Instead, the U.S. and Middle Eastern governments go through a charade of discovery and progress with each visit, while the reality over the past 30 years has been decline in the region.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Editorial/2013/Mar-05/208820-feigned-ignorance.ashx#ixzz2MeXVz4MZ
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)