Where's Condoleezza Rice? (Update below)

With all the talk that we can't win militarily in Iraq and that we need a diplomatic solution, where's Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hiding? Has anyone seen her in the past 30-45 days? Could it be she went back to Stanford to teach summer courses, or is she taking a long needed vacation with the Iraqi parliament this summer?

With the Congress ready to bring up some Amendments to the funding of the war Bills to include endorsing the Iraqi Study Group recommendations for a diplomatic push to involve Iran, Syria and other neighbors of Iraq, Condi isn't to be found anywhere. But then again, she has had plenty of time to get those parties to the table to discuss diplomatic solutions to end the violence. We may need someone other than Condi for this as she is reminding me daily of FEMA's "Brownie".

UPDATE: July 12, 2007 As reported by newKerala.com the latest news on Condi:

"No show for Rice at ASEAN meeting?

Bangkok, July 12: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to cancel her scheduled attendance at this month's meeting of South-East Asia foreign ministers in Manila, Thai media reports said Thursday.

The cancellation has disappointed the member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the ministerial meeting was intended to strengthen ties between the US and the regional grouping, a Bangkok-based diplomat told the Nation newspaper.

The source blamed Rice's no-show on rising criticisms in the US of the Iraqi quagmire, which has forced all US cabinet ministers to remain close to home.

President George W. Bush cancelled his scheduled attendance at the ASEAN-US friendship meeting in Singapore last week. Singapore will host the annual ASEAN summit in November, which the US president may attend.

ASEAN, a four-decades old regional grouping, includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
--- IANS"

Anyone seen Condi? Please add a comment.

The Middle East: End of, what will be called, a relatively peaceful era.

When historians look back at the last 40 years, they will write that it was the peaceful times before chaos ensued. This chaos was prompted by the ineptness of the United States to forge diplomatic efforts in the search for peace. It will be said, that while there was turmoil in the intervening years, it was nothing compared to the chaos that took place afterwards. And historians will heap much of the blame on President Bush and his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. It will be written that they abandoned the search for a 2 State solution for the Palestinians and Israel, following a Laissez-fare approach to foreign policy. The current inept government of Israel is also to blame. Neither searching for peace on their own as a priority, they showed their weakness with Hezbollah in Lebanon and they stayed in Lebanon too long. this has emboldened the warriors around them to pursue conflict. Israel and the United States wanted elections in the Palestinian territory and so they went forth and Hamas, the strong militant faction aligned with Hezbollah, gained ground. Hamas now flexes its muscle on Fattah and everyone loses, especially the innocent.

President Bush's legacy will be a continuum from his personal life. He is known for driving his Oil business into bankruptcy. Now as leader of the free world, he has bankrupt the country, bankrupt our good will around the world, bankrupt the Middle East peace process, started a war in Iraq which is bankrupting the people of Iraq who he said he wanted to give democracy to, bankrupt the support we had after 9/11, bankrupt our military to the point where it is beyond broken, bankrupt our border security so that we have 12-20 million illegal immigrants that we didn't have before he came into office and he has bankrupt any support for the Republican party for a long time.

I can't wait for what the future will bring - NOT!