Rice on 'mission impossible'

2006-07-17 23:25

Washington - The United States said on Monday secretary of state Condoleezza Rice would head for the Middle East, on what one analyst termed a "mission impossible" as fighting raged between Israel and Hezbollah.

State department spokesperson Sean McCormack confirmed Rice was preparing a visit, after President George W Bush - in an unguarded moment caught on a microphone at the G8 summit - said she would go "soon".

McCormack did not set a date for Rice's departure, but said she wanted first to hear from a United Nations crisis mission expected to report back to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan later this week.

"Her goal would be to further the diplomacy that would lay the groundwork for a lasting cessation of violence," he said, offering a potentially modest aim of such a mission.

State department sources said Rice was pondering whether to add a Middle East swing ahead of an already planned departure for Asia next week.

Stakes high

Although Rice's presence would kick diplomatic efforts into higher gear, it remained uncertain how she could immediately ease the deepening crisis.

"Obviously, I'm looking every day at what I can do, and I'll do whatever it takes," Rice told ABC from Russia on Sunday.

But she recognised the stakes would be high in any return to the days when US secretaries of state zipped across the region brokering ceasefires.

"We first need a way ahead. Let's recognise that simply going in and shuttling back and forth if you don't know where you're trying to go is not going to help," Rice said on Fox television.

Washington has already signalled it will not push for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah unless such a deal forms part of a lasting initiative involving the disarming of the militia under UN resolution 1559.

Risking own prestige

Some experts also question whether Rice should risk her own prestige, given the long odds of pulling off a success, especially given the US refusal to talk to Iran and Syria, which it accuses of masterminding Hezbollah's action.

"I have to say from previous experiences that secretaries of state do not go on a mission impossible because then their credibility will be directly affected," said Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel.

"There doesn't seem to be any way in which she could put together a positive outcome in these kind of circumstances," said Indyk, now with the Brookings Institution.

"It is definitely premature to send her out there," said Indyk, speaking before the latest state department comments on the trip.

Indyk said Rice's best bet may be to wait to see the result of Israel's military action - before putting her political capital on the line.

"I do think this cannot be ended without her intervention, but it would be premature to do that (yet)," he said.

Should Rice go to the region soon, she may possibly meet US Arab allies like Egypt, Jordan or Saudi Arabia, which could influence events on the US behalf.

- AFP