" Bush's announcement yesterday stunned diplomats at the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which has coordinated Middle East peace efforts. Minutes before Bush's 10 a.m. declaration, diplomats were asking each other if anyone knew the subject of the president's address. 'We had no idea whatsoever it was coming,' said one diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "
The very people who will be on the front lines, so to speak (jostling for the good seats around the conference tables), do not know what they are supposed to do. The folks at State are supposed to be developing a map of some sort. But the policy makers have yet to tell them what (or where) the territory is that they are supposed to be mapping.
You can't draw a map unless you know the lay of the land.
Posted by Martial