Five minutes worth of surfing the headlines brought up a half dozen stories about the upcoming Annapolis “peace” conference and its relationship to Condoleeza Rice’s legacy as Sec. of State. Here is a brief sample:
Rice’s legacy on the line at Annapolis conference
Can Rice save her legacy with ‘Hail Mary’ pass?
Rice at center of peace talks
I don’t know about you but the term legacy in regard to a peace process makes me very uncomfortable. In theory diplomacy should be conducted dispassionately and without concern that any of those involved are doing so for anything but altruistic reasons.
The term legacy makes me question that. I don’t want the players to be worried about how history is going to view them. I don’t want to be worried that they’re trying to win awards or a place in the history books.
Legacy just rubs me the wrong way. It is a bit like the doctor saying “this might sting a little” right before they shove a six inch needle into your spine.
I just hope and pray that the legacy of Annapolis isn’t written in our blood.
L.L.,
Ego is 90 percent of the reason why we are still at war.
You are right in saying that peace talks should be for peace’s sake only; using the word “legacy” implies that EGO is very much involved in these ‘talks.’
My current post is about Annapolis, whose preliminaries, requests and maneuverings of the various Arab countries being wooed into participating does not bode well for Israel. I hope I’m very wrong…