Letter from America...

The best TV in years is being shown here in the US in the form of the Republican presidential nomination debates. Mitt Romney is holding his own while Rick Perry is squirming like a beached eel in his efforts to wiggle out of accusations of dubious political intent thrown at him by almost all of the contenders. Mr. Nice Guy, Herman Kane, won the Florida Straw Poll which is only significant to the 3,000 participants who voted, and for the fact that Romney and Perry trailed far behind.

Bachman has fallen way south in the ratings after having won her straw poll in her birth state of Iowa. Rumors persist that Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey, is reconsidering his position about running. Pundits are unanimous in their praise of Christie.

Fareed Zakaria conducted a riveting interview with Tayyip Erdogan this past Sunday on CNN. It was revealing, but one critical question as to why Turkey is treating its Kurdish minority so harshly was never asked. I see a parallel between Turkeys' Kurds and Israel's Palestinians. Erdogan is not exactly pro Israel and still smarting from having been refused entry into the EU on ethnic grounds, Turkey is ready for a fight. Erdogan said he expects to send a Turkish naval escort along with the next relief armada to Gaza. That could be nasty.

Abbas was true to his word in requesting UN recognition for Palestine as a state. This of course will expose the US and Israel and a few other powers as a tiny minority when the US blocks the request when it is presented to the Security Council.

In a sense, O is correct in stating that a solution to the Palestinian issues must be found between them and Israel. Problem is, the two remain light years apart and Israel will not budge an inch on the West Bank settlements. The cat is among the pigeons and  Abbas did what was necessary from his perspective.