Miliband Doesn't Understand the Palestinians or Hezbollah

I am watching British Foreign Secretary David Miliband being interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS.

He reminds me of Obama in the sense that he speaks well but has very little to say.

Miliband praised Secretary of State Rice for trying to bring about a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians but chided her by getting it under way in the seventh year of the Bush Administration rather than in the first.

Putting aside Mahmoud Abbas for a moment is Miliband seriously suggesting the Bush Administration should have dealt with Yasser Arafat, a man who walked away from Camp David and a Palestinian state? Is he seriously suggesting Bush should have dealt with a man who lied to him personally over the Karine A incident in 2002 when the Palestinian Authority received covert arms shipments from Iran?

Miliband also thinks that if Israel surrenders the Golan Heights to Syria that Hezbollah's power base will disappear. Just like when Hezbollah's power base disappeared when Israel unilaterally withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. As long as Iran is funding Hezbollah and Syria needs Hezbollah to keep its thumb on Lebanon then Hezbollah will not disappear unless it is destroyed militarily.

Why am I dwelling on what David Miliband thinks? Well, because Miliband will likely succeed Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party whether Labour loses to the Conservatives in the next general election or if Miliband decides to launch a challenge against Brown before the election and launch himself into 10 Downing Street. Don't get me wrong. Brown is no great shakes and all things considered David Cameron and today's Tories aren't disciples of Margaret Thatcher. But after listening to Miliband tonight he might be the worse of them all.