Though Powerline commented on this, I believe they missed a key quotation and the import behind it. Here is the quotation:

We just have to realize that because of the way that the politics of the Middle East has developed for the last 60 years, that ideology of hope and a better future has not been there.

Is Dr. Rice implying that this ideology of hope and a better future were thwarted by the founding of Israel, which also happened roughly 60 years ago? Is it that Israel is the problem?

As Bernard Lewis and others have noted, the downward spiral of Islam has been going on for over 600 hundred years. Furthermore, it was the empowerment of Arafat that led to the heightened radicalization of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

If I recall, his placement there was pushed onto Israel as a way to bring peace. The Muslims around the world have been radicalized in Africa (against Christians), in India (against Hindus), in  Bali (against Hindus), in Europe (against... well, Europeans). Has all their hope and a better future been thwarted by the founding of Israel?

Ed Lasky   10 29 06

Richard Baehr adds: Condi has been Powellized. It happens to everyone who takes over the Foggy Bottom bureaucracy.