"Good optics" [View All]

Good optics


(AP)

The theory behind launching peace talks without a clear path to their conclusion -- even the talks' schedule remains a bit hazy -- has always been that they could take on a momentum and logic of their own, and that the engagement itself would push the leaders toward a settlement whose general outlines are widely known.

That theory gives the enterprise a seat-of-the-pants feeling, but has also raised a little optimism from the trained pessimists who watch Middle East politics, and today's optics -- a handshake between Abbas and Netanyahu, and strong comments from an Israeli leader, however skeptical he may be of his partner -- were just what the White House has been waiting a long time for.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0910/Good_optics.html?showall