"Q Who drew up this plan? Was it Israelis and Saudis and our -- or State Department worked with them --
"MR. SNOW: Who drew up this plan?
"Q Yes.
"MR. SNOW: Well, typically something like this -- you're talking about what the President will be describing today? We worked it out within the administration. That involves the NSC, it involves the Department of State, but it is not something that has been vetted or run by other governments.
"Q Why not?
"MR. SNOW: Because they --
"Q And how about with Congress?
"MR. SNOW: Members of Congress will get some notification, they will have a chance to see it."
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Y'see, the whole theory behind the idea called groupthink is that members of a group get along too well. They sit down with each other and sort of outbid one another in a not-really-conscious process, each one "daring" the other to get more extreme and more casual about being extreme.
The way to defeat groupthink? It's well-established that the best way to break up that sort of thinking is by bringing in outsiders, by opening up the group to fresh viewpoints and new ways of seeing things.
Reading the above, it's pretty clear that the Bush Administration will do no such thing. The quote below is from a story about how President Bush wants a Mideast summit. Sounds good, but the quote here reveals the catch:
"Palestinians [are] divided between the Fatah-controlled West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza. Hamas is unlikely to be invited: Mr Bush said it must first renounce violence and recognise Israel."
In other words, "we'll deal with our friends (i.e., people who are predisposed to agree with us) and ignore our enemies (i.e., people likely to stand up for their own national interests)."
Same-old, same-old. This is going to be strictly a photo-op summit.
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