Forget the Mideast peace talks. A meeting that may require even greater diplomacy will take place Monday in the Oval Office, when President Bush receives America's Nobel Prize winners — including his one-time rival, Al Gore.
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So, when they meet in the Oval Office on Monday, will they finally bury the hatchet? Don't bet on it.
"This is going to be a very uncomfortable moment for both of them," says Gore's former campaign manager Donna Brazile. "I think after the president looks at Al Gore and says 'congratulations,' Al Gore will probably depart the room."
That sounds about right. It's not like Junior's going to want to whip it out and compare legacies:
After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of "principles" for "friendship and cooperation." Apparently President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed the declaration during a morning teleconference.
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A "democratic Iraq" here means the Shiite-led Iraqi government. The current political arrangement will receive U.S. military protection against coups or any other internal subversion. That's something the Iraqi government wants desperately: not only is it massively unpopular, even among Iraqi Shiites, but the increasing U.S.-Sunni security cooperation strikes the Shiite government -- with some justification -- as a recipe for a future coup.
I'm sure both sides will be polite enough not to bring up things like that.
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