by Michael G. Mickey
(9-25-07)

The Telegraph is reporting that the Quartet's Middle East envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is saying he "has an "ambitious but achievable" plan to get the Middle East peace process back on track by the end of the year."

The following is an excerpt from the Telegraph article:

At a UN press conference last night Mr Blair, now Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia, said he aims to put "real hope" back into the peace process in the region.

He said he intended to gain a sense of how a Palestinian state would look by the end of this year.

The meeting between Mr Bush and Mr Blair comes at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East with Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, warning North Korea about its possible covert nuclear links with Syria.

Mr Bush, who championed the peace summit in an effort to end decades of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed, will sound out Mr Blair in his new role as international envoy to the Palestinians.

This demonstrates that Tony Blair is going to be playing a large role in Middle East peacemaking in the months ahead. He will be doing so in anything but ideal conditions to say the least but he is going to championed in his cause by the United States if no one else. It will be interesting to see whether Blair's stock rises or falls in his role as Quartet envoy in the months ahead as the Quartet is desperately looking for a breakthrough to occur at or before its upcoming international peace conference scheduled for November.

Off topic a bit, is anyone other than me wondering why the mainstream media is making so little of North Korea and Syria's nuclear collaboration? In almost every instance when this is mentioned, it seems to be little more than a footnote. It's almost like the world is in denial of the danger the North Korean-Syrian efforts add to the Middle East powder keg, especially in light of the fact it is now widely known that a number of Iranians and Syrians died a few months ago while mounting a Scud-C missile with a warhead loaded with VX and sarin nerve gases as well as mustard gas blistering agent. The Iranian-Syrian-North Korean Axis of Evil is clearly running the full gambit of weapons of mass destruction and yet it almost seems that no one cares. Or could it be that the international community is holding its collective breath?

An uncertain future

Tony Blair is launching his plan for Middle East peace at a time when peace seems anything but likely in the troubled region.

What will happen next in the Middle East is anyone's guess. The possibilities range from Damascus being blown off the face of the earth in fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1 to the confirmation of a peace covenant in the Middle East in fulfillment of Daniel 9:26-27.

The end times drama continues...