No Bush road to Damascus

THE DIPLOMATIC chessboard of the Middle East got a telling makeover last week, when French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the emir of Qatar in Damascus for talks with Syria's ruler, Bashar al-Assad. The three visitors were there to promote the negotiations Syria and Israel have been conducting through Turkish go-betweens. All three grasp the value of a peace that could subtract Syria from the Iranian orbit, help safeguard an independent Lebanon, and enable Israel to have peace treaties with all the surrounding Arab states.

Sarkozy, Erdogan, and the emir of Qatar are filling a void created by President Bush, who has abdicated America's traditional role as mediator for Israeli-Arab peace talks. Assad has made no secret of his desire to make peace with Washington by making peace with Israel. For its part, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wanted American involvement in the negotiations. When Bush declined to participate in the talks, the Israelis had to implore his administration to at least tolerate the Turkish-brokered negotiations.

Bush's doctrinal refusal to deal with nasty regimes like Assad's has meant that Israel and Syria have had to look elsewhere for diplomatic sponsors: to France as current holder of the European Union's presidency, to Qatar as designated peacemaker of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and to Turkey as a regional power that enjoys good relations with both Syria and Israel. Assad has made it clear, however, that no deal can be concluded until there is a new administration in Washington able and willing to take an active role in forging peace between Israel and Syria. This ought to be one of the highest priorities of the next US president.