Saudi Arabia has expressed anger and frustration at the failure of the Bush administration to come forward with an expected initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal reportedly said it was enough to "make a sane man go mad".

There's a war on, haven't you noticed? We're just a little bit busy right now. In any case, it's never been clear to me why everyone is expecting the US to solve this. We've been working on it, off and on, for something like thirty years. Successive Presidents have launched serious peace missions, and indeed a year ago we damned near had what I think was an acceptable compromise in hand -- which failed because of Palestinian demands for the "right of return", which is absolutely unacceptable and will never be part of any ultimate settlement of the issue. We'll probably keep trying, no doubt about that. But if the Saudis think that somehow the US is suddenly going to wave a magic wand and impose peace on the region, then they need to think again.

But that's not the point. I still want someone to explain why it is our responsibility to solve it? Actually, I know the answer: the Saudis are expecting the US to bully Israel. That's not going to happen. (discuss)