"Then how can I speculate about it?"

"You're not making me feel better about the future stability of the region, Your Highness."

"Well, I'm trying to make me feel better about it. Because just think of the consequences of military action around that small lake which is the Gulf, which is the place where you have so much of the interests of the international community and its economy. And, God forbid, if violence happens there, what the consequences will be for the economy of the world."

"Some Israeli analysts are saying Iran's not so tough, that it can't really hit back at Israel, it can't really hit back at the United States. The Iranians could hit at Saudi Arabia, couldn't they?"

"Well, I think that's more important than hitting Israel."

"Well, yes, you would."

"I think the Israelis should know that that is so. I mean, what effect would a strike on Israel have on the international economy compared to what a strike on Saudi Arabia would have on the international economy?"

A rhetorical question, of course. With the price of oil already threatening to break through the $100-a-barrel threshold, and gasoline at the pump averaging more than $3 a gallon in the United States, there's the potential for prices to go a whole lot higher, bringing on global recession, or worse. But you can see why the Israelis, thinking about their own existence, perhaps, might feel their own patience is strained.

Me, I wish Condi luck, and patience, in Annapolis.

© 2007