It all depends on whether one is an optimist or a pessimist to argue if there will be, as promised, an "outline" for a fair conclusion to the slow-moving peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in six months time. For a start, the belated talks have been plagued by the presence of three weak leaders at the helms in Palestine, Israel and the United States, all approaching their last days in office.

In less than 100 days a new American president will be elected, and most likely he will be Barack Obama, the first African-American to attain that position provided he maintains his current solid lead in the opinion polls. The gifted and articulate one-time senator has won the hearts of many in the United States and Europe, as evidenced during his recent overseas trip to Europe, and his remarkable speech in Berlin which was attended by some 200,000 Germans and others.

Israel has done a remarkable job of winning international – especially U.S. – support for its cause, but it has failed miserably in making is case to Arab, particularly Palestinian audiences.

One would think that Arab leaders would have learned a lesson (or two) after failing to convincingly tell the Arab side of the conflict with Israel since the establishment of the Jewish state on Arab lands in Palestine in 1948, a loss the Arabs describe as the Nakba or catastrophe. Once again the oil-rich Arab leaders are disappointingly unable so far to convince the world of the reasons, as they see them, that led to the skyrocketing price of oil which had more than doubled in one year; now over $140 a barrel.

One could hardly believe upon reading or hearing the statement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after her talks with Israeli leaders last Sunday when she "pressed" them to halt settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, two Israeli-occupied areas where the Palestinians hope to establish their independent state along with the Gaza Strip.

Once Barack Obama shockingly unveiled his true and one-sided views regarding a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement at last weeks meeting in Washington of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, it became obviously clear that he has unwittingly disqualified himself as the much-promised instrument of "change" or that "we can" help bring about an honorable end to the decades-old conflict.

One obvious sign of the influence of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, was once again demonstrated this week as the three presidential candidates and top government leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were all scheduled to address the pro-Israel lobby groups three-day conference in Washington.

It is almost anyones guess what U.S. policy in the Middle East will be like under a new American leader next year. Judging by the rhetoric in this amazing primary election campaign, reportedly the costliest in U.S. history and the likes of which has not been seen in past decades – especially among the Democratic Partys surviving candidates, senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama – it may disappointingly be not much different than the disastrous policies of the George W. Bush administration. This is especially true with regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, now in its 61st year.

U.S. President George W. Bush has just returned from his five-day Middle East trip without any feathers in his hat, primarily because of his tunnel vision regarding the war-or-peace issues in that region. Moreover, his lackluster pronouncements in his waning days at the White House were by and large inarticulate, narrowly focused, and out-of-line.

Palestinians would like to be hopeful, but there is nothing on the horizon to assure them. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried in Jerusalem earlier this month, by saying that a peace agreement was still achievable this year. Her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, maintained that Israel has "no hidden agenda" regarding Israeli-occupied settlements in the West Bank. But, all these comments have been seen as pro forma on the eve of Israels 60th anniversary celebration attended by U.S. President George W. Bush.