I finally was able to access the end of the Part I thread, where CarolC asked:

"Is Mitchell the one who was involved in the negotiations in N. Ireland? If so, I liked what he had to say about the middle east, too. I wish the Israelis and the Palestinians would invite him to help over there."

Yes, George Mitchell was the American negotiator in Northern Ireland. He also acted as an American negotiator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just prior to Bush taking power. However, the Bush administration has attempted (until the past week) to distance itself from the Mitchell framework, because he was Clinton's negotiator. We're now seeing the results of their choice to send the Director of the CIA, George Tenet, and a low ranking military diplomat, Anthony Zinni, to negotiate a different framework on behalf of the US.

This morning, the Vatican has denounced the Israeli reoccupation of the West Bank, Egypt has just announced it is limiting all diplomatic contacts with Israel to furthering the Palestinian cause, the EU has called for a new set of international negotiators to include (in addition to the US) EU, Russian, UN, Israeli and Palestinian Authority representatives to get the parties to quickly move to a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. And some of the highest ranking foreign policy senators on both sides of the aisle are calling for increased involvement from the Bush administration. Shocking as it is, Senator Arlen Spector is now calling for the Bush administration to take decisive action regarding the Middle East crisis.

The situation just keeps getting darker and darker, and the US and Israel are becoming more and more isolated in the world community. It does make me ashamed to be an American.