To expand on your post, Jennifer, I wanted to cite directly from Lake’s piece. In Kurtzer’s exact words, he advised the Syrian foreign minister to

“move ahead in the Israel-Syria negotiations as much as possible so that whoever is the next president would not start from too far down the track,” Mr. Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Israel, said yesterday in a phone interview. “I did not say anything about Obama or McCain. I said whoever is the next president is not going to want to inherit a process that isn’t going anywhere.”

The problem with every iteration of this particular “process” is that none of them have ever gone anywhere, precisely by Syrian design. Kurtzer believes that the simple occurrence of diplomatic meetings is evidence of progress, regardless of the uses to which such happy-talk is put by Damascus.

In this case, the “Israel-Syria track” is a product of Syria’s wish to break free from the isolation imposed over its decision to operate as the Grand Central Station of terrorism in the Middle East. The peace process has nothing to do with peace, and everything to do with Syria’s desire to see Western powers to beg for its cooperation, which is frequently promised and never delivered. The existence of this “track” is not value-neutral. It is a reward for violence: it allows Syria to carry on with one foot in the Iranian and Palestinian terrorist camp and one foot in the Western engagement camp. Kurtzer is only too eager to lobby for allowing Syria to continue having it both ways ad infinitum.

But now there is a new twist, and that is the burgeoning Russia-Syria-Iran axis. This is by no means an alliance of anything but convenience. But it could become a potent force should Russia throw its weight firmly behind the Syrian-Iranian rejectionist bloc:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad headed to Moscow today to discuss an expansion of his pariah state’s military cooperation with Russia. . . . “Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue. Weapons purchases are very important,” said Mr Assad. “I think we should speed it up. Moreover, the West and Israel continue to put pressure on Russia.”

. . . Mr al-Assad said that he would be discussing the deployment of Russian missiles on Syrian territory, possibly the Iskander system. Syrians is also interested in buying Russian anti-aircraft and tanks missiles.

In return, Moscow is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War era naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean. Some Russian reports even suggest that Moscow is deepening the port it to accommodate a fleet of warships. Russia may have similar ambitions for Latakia. Either port would give the Russian Navy its foothold in the Mediterranean for two decades.

So, does Kurtzer — and by extension the Obama campaign — still think that the Israel-Syria “track” should remain an object of American encouragement? I suspect they do. The peace processors are incorrigible — sometimes dangerously so.