What I don't understand,

in the depressing tragedy that is the latest round of poorly-balanced clashes between Israel and Gaza, is the certainty of some international media outlets that Barack Obama's arrival as US president will somehow magically solve the situation. Granted, the media in question are mostly of a liberal bent, but these journalists must be either very naive or have extremely short memories. Dubya, while undoubtedly an ass and an idiot, is hardly the cause of all the world's problems, and those involving Israel and Palestine predate him by, well, quite a bit. Obama won't be the first Democrat president to tackle the Middle East conflict, and there have been dramatic escalations of violence under previous centre-left US administrations. Second Intifada ring any bells? Not wanting to appear too cynical, I certainly hope that Obama can play a role in convincing both sides to renounce acts of aggression, but it's irresponsible (not to mention unfair to him) to just assume that his mere presence on the scene will equate with an end to hostilities.