"The fact that they are geographically closer to Argentina is of no consequence. Will the United States hand over Alaska to Russia which is famously visible from Sarah Palin's house as opposed to over 500 miles from the US mainland? Is the US going to give Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to the Dominican Republic? Are they going to give Hawaii to Japan? Texas and Florida to Mexico? Guam to the Philippines? American Samoa to New Zealand? What about Taiwan, should that be annexed by China?"

"The Taliban's often brutal form of conservative justice shocks the liberal sensibilities of the western electorates paying for the war. Bringing them into the political process will mean conceding that where, for example, young brides wed older men, NATO troops are not the right means to change those customs and attitudes."

"...[T]he best solution is a federal system of boroughs similar to the states of the US, and a unified Jerusalem authority, similar to the US federal government.

The borders of the municipality of Jerusalem would include everything that it does now and also nearby Palestinian cities such as Abu Dis. Some boroughs would naturally be majority Palestinian, others naturally majority Jewish, but free and fair borough elections would ensure proportionate representation on each."

"...Israeli hawks have historically been better at moving towards peace than doves. Begin made peace with Egypt, Sharon left Gaza, Barak — a Labour ex-military hawk — left Lebanon, and Netanyahu gave Palestinians control of Hebron and parts of the West Bank to the Palestinians.

This time round, Netanyahu says he will personally oversee a government committee to improve the West Bank economy. If it works, and Palestinians in the West Bank feel the improvement, then Fatah could come out of this year's likely Palestinian legislative elections with an increased majority, strengthening the moderate Palestinian leadership, and so improving its ability to actually implement any negotiated agreement it might make...."

"The bottom line is that our war aims can still be achieved, but not by force alone. Lasting stability in Afghanistan will only be achieved by negotiating with moderate elements in the Taleban and opening the way for them to share power. That will bolster the legitimacy of national government in Afghanistan, and ultimately divide and weaken the insurgents. Troops will be necessary to reduce the insurgency. But this should be seen as a means to the end of ending the conflict by enabling us to negotiate from a position of relative strength. Only a power-sharing government which includes the least extreme elements of the Taleban will be able to achieve the other three war aims — ensuring that Afghanistan remains a legitimate state, ensuring that it can handle its own security, and keeping core al Qaeda out of the country."