The Iranian-Hizbullah-Hamas axis of terror has become the major obstacle to peace in the Mideast, replacing the Palestinian Authority (PA)-Israel dispute as the major issue, according to former German Foreign Minister and vice-chancellor Joschka Fischer. Writing in the Beirut Daily Star, he said that the American war has made Iran stronger.
"The dominant conflict is no longer the Israeli-Palestinian struggle but the threat of a confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia for sub-regional supremacy, and between Iran and the United States for regional hegemony," he wrote. "A democratic, pro-Western Middle East is not in the cards. The historical failure of the Iraq war, the demise of secular Arab nationalism and the soaring oil and gas prices have wrought profound changes in the region…. A new Middle East is now emerging…[but] new does not necessarily mean better."