As nice as it is to be in touch with other ME bloggers in the rarified atmosphere of the international community on the Web, I came to the conclusion long ago that on the ground real peace in this area of the world will only come when citizens and their governments speak with the same voice and it says, "we want to co-exist with our neighbors" and put those words into action. I don't expect this to happen any time soon, if at all. (Just for the record, by nature, I am not a pessimist.)