Dennis Ross Watch: In a Staff Shuffle, Signs of Obama’s Direction on Mideast

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In a Staff Shuffle, Signs of Obama’s Direction on Mideast
By HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — So now Dennis B. Ross, the Obama administration’s senior Iran policy maker, less than three months into his State Department job, is moving to the White House, administration officials say.

As Mark Landler of The New York Times reported on Tuesday, Mr. Ross will be taking on an expanded role covering Iran and other Middle East issues at the National Security Council. White House officials still haven’t officially announced the move — hopefully they won’t keep Mr. Ross hanging on a limb for as long as the State Department did before announcing his job one night back in February. But several officials confirm that it is about to happen.

The big question, though, is why? Obama administration officials have been cryptic when asked about the reason for the shuffle. Does it mean that the White House is the real center of the action when it comes to foreign policy? Were there too many special envoys over at the State Department? Was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not giving Mr. Ross enough face time? Or is Mr. Ross going to assume more of a role in Mr. Obama’s evolving Middle East policy, particularly in relations with Israel?

Senior administration officials said that Mr. Obama values Mr. Ross, who backed Mr. Obama early on during the election campaign, and wanted the benefit of his strategic thinking nearby. One official suggested that the combination of Mr. Ross, a veteran Arab-Israeli negotiator and longtime foreign policy hand, and National Security Adviser General James L. Jones would help the administration to come up with a better, more cohesive long-term strategy for America’s relations with the world.

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In recent weeks, Mr. Obama has struck a sharp tone with Israel, calling for a halt to Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and elevating the Palestinians, in his speech to the Muslim world from Cairo earlier this month, to equal footing with the Israelis.

Those actions have earned for Mr. Obama some wariness in Israel, where recent polls show that 51 percent of Israelis sampled said that Mr. Obama cared more about Palestinian statehood than about Israeli security. Mr. Obama’s administration, from Mrs. Clinton to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to Mr. Ross, is filled with politicians and foreign policy experts who have high standing among the pro-Israel lobby in the United States, but moving Mr. Ross from the State Department to right next door at the White House could help to protect Mr. Obama’s flank even further when it comes to Israel.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/us/politics/19cooper.html?_r=2&hpw
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Hey, take a break from Olive Garden/dead flies/Letterman/Alaskan skeezer families/etc.& read about mysterious 'Staff Shuffles' at the WH & state dept. It will amuse you.

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1. Could signal a harder line on Iran. Lowering expectations for real change.

Oh, shit . . . that sinking feeling in the Middle East part of my stomach, again.