At her press conference on Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice revealed—far more articulately, if unwittingly, than any other official has in some time—just what is so dangerous about President George W. Bush’s foreign policy.
She called the news conference to announce her trip to the Middle East and to outline her ideas for how, and how not, to make peace between Israel and Lebanon. Asked why she hadn’t flown to the region earlier or engaged in “shuttle diplomacy,” as some had suggested, Rice replied, “I could have gotten on a plane and rushed over and started shuttling, and it wouldn’t have been clear what I was shuttling to do. … I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante. I think that would be a mistake.”
Then came the killer sentence, the sentiment that explains so much about what’s gone wrong with American diplomacy and not just in the Middle East:
What we’re seeing here is, in a sense, the growing—the birth pangs of a new Middle East, and whatever we do, we have to be certain that we’re pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old Middle East.
Behind the scenes, Hochstein, McGurk and other top U.S. national security officials are describing Israel’s Lebanon operations as a history-defining moment — one that will reshape the Middle East for the better for years to come.The thinking goes: Israel has obliterated Hezbollah’s top command structure in Lebanon, severely undercutting the group’s capabilities and weakened Iran, which used Hezbollah as a proxy and power projector.The internal administration division seems to have dissipated somewhat in recent days, with top U.S. officials convening Monday at the White House with President Joe Biden to discuss the situation on the ground. Most agreed that the conflict, while fragile, could offer an opportunity to reduce Iran’s influence in Lebanon and the region.
I guess we don't know too much about this McGurk guy, so let's see what Wikipedia has to say.
In January 2004, McGurk returned to public service as a legal advisor to both the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the United States ambassador in Baghdad. During his tenure in Baghdad, McGurk helped draft Iraq's interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law, and oversaw the legal transition from the CPA to an Interim Iraqi Government led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. In 2005, he was transferred to the National Security Council, where he served as director for Iraq, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2006, McGurk became an early advocate for a fundamental change in Iraq policy and helped develop what is now known as "the surge," which began in January 2007.[citation needed] President Bush later asked McGurk to lead negotiations with Ambassador Ryan Crocker to establish a strategic framework agreement and security agreement with the government of Iraq, thereby ensuring continuity in policy beyond the end of his administration.[8] In 2009, McGurk was retained during the transition from George W. Bush to Barack Obama, serving as a senior advisor to both the president and the United States ambassador to Iraq.[3]McGurk left government service in the fall of 2009 and served as a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.[9] He also served as an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has also been a frequent commentator on several news outlets.[10] He was called back into public service in the summer of 2010 after a deadlock over formation of a new Iraqi government, and later in the summer of 2011, following a deadlock in negotiations with the government of Iraq to extend the security agreement that had been concluded in 2008.