Washington Post editorial 2/7/07 excerpts:

Saudi Arabia's Diplomacy

"One consequence of the Bush administration's
recent decision to divide the Middle East between
"extremists" and "moderates" was to marginalize
U.S. diplomacy in the region. The administration
refuses to talk to the "extremists" -- Iran,
Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas -- but those
governments and groups are at the center of every
major conflict from Iraq to the Gaza strip. Now
one of the administration's "moderate" allies,
Saudi Arabia, has stepped into the vacuum. The
result has been a revealing demonstration of how
talks with adversaries can sometimes be useful --
and a hint of what may be lost by Mr. Bush's
inflexible policy."

"...U.S. strategy assumes that nothing can be
gained by talks with Iranians such as
Mr. Larijani and that nothing can cause militants
such as Mr. Meshal to compromise. It's good that
Saudi Arabia is testing a contrary theory in
practice; even better would be some American
diplomatic risk-taking."

Wesley K. Clark... the strategist ahead of his
time!