About the Middle East: Get Serious, Stop Sending Israel and the Palestinians Money

It's time to talk turkey about the U.S. role in the Middle East,
which to date, of late, has been ineffectually weak and
unproductive. Really, these atavistically antagonist tribals,
the Palestinians and Israelis, couldn't care less about any peace
brokered by Obama, Kerry, et al. How many wearily
frequent flight hours have U.S. Secretaries of State Kerry
and Clinton logged in their visits to these contested areas,
only to return empty-handed? (--I can't count that high.)

Follow the money, therefore: has massive U.S. aid,
in the billions each year to both sides here, produced
any telling U.S. influence over events over there?
I think not. We get face time and politesse, much
less than ACTUAL RESULTS. Time for a radical
rewrite...

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          In imagination's visionary view only:

 A Rose Garden Presidential Press Conference,
in any year, any U.S. President speaking:

"Today I must regretfully announce the ending of all
financial aid to Israel and the Palestinians. This includes
military aid as well. We will continue to offer medical
and humanitarian assistance at times, but that is the
full extent of our future commitment, beginning today.

For decades The United States has attempted to host
and/or participate in negotiations, but these two combatants
continue to remain intransigent, endlessly destroying lives and
property. The Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel's
right to exist as a national state, and the Israelis aren't
much more accepting of the Palestinians. The USA, in
sending financial aid, abets these violent conflicts, merely.

Here at home we need to focus far more on our own
problems, many of which can be ameliorated by better
policies and more funding. Our decades-long international
role as the world's policeman must end, if only to allow
other nations to mature in their own statecraft, absent
our paternalistic presence...and monies.

The Executive Branch and our Congress, for once,
have agreed on this new policy turn. We hope this
produces peace in the region, as nothing else has; we
wish all parties the best of luck, long life and
happiness.

(The White House Press Corp erupts into loud
cacophonous questioning, interrupting each other.)

No questions at this time. My statement is clear enough."
(The President walks away from the press conference.)

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The last time the USA mediated a lasting peace in that
region, chiefly between Jordan, the PLO, Israel and Egypt,
it was accomplished by Jimmy Carter, a president who has
steeped himself in the history and culture of the entire
Middle East, proving it by writing intelligent books on
such subjects...hmm. That lasting peace occurred
in the 1970s. Apparently no one since has had the
same knowledge, expertise and demeanor to pull
off such stellar peace accords, still in effect in 2014.

Until another U.S. President and Congress attain
a comparable level of  international mastery, let's
stay out of Middle Eastern affairs altogether, ending
our billions in dollars and materiel of support,
a wake up call, clear and loud.

 Now THAT WOULD be getting serious about
the Middle East.