Obama appoints Mitchell as Middle East Envoy

Mr. Mitchell would head to the Middle East as soon as possible to shore up the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Israel must re-open the border crossing into the Gaza Strip "to allow the flow of aid and commerce," Mr. Obama said.

"Hamas must end its rocket fire... The United States and our partners will support a credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime so that Hamas cannot re-arm," he added.

But Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan told al-Jazeera television that Mr. Obama would fail in the Middle East unless he changed his position.

Obama selects Zionist Dennis Ross as Mideast Czar

Obama has appointed Dennis Ross as his special envoy to Iran and overall Middle East "czar." Outside of the hard-line neocons such as Douglas Feith, Norman Podhoretz, Richard Perle, etc., it would be hard to come up with someone who would be less of an honest broker in the Middle East.

And, Obama continues to disappoint....