Yes, its all about 9/11. After the dreadful events of 9/11, the US embarked on a series of misadventures. Now this has for the first time sowed the seeds of Pan-Arabian nationalism and the issue of Palestine is at the core of this emerging/nascent Arab nationalism. As long as this issue is not solved, the Middle East is not going to stabilize. And given the vast reserves of oil, the inetrtwining of Arabian nationalism with Anti Americanism, this issue of Israel Palestine has to be solved. This is what Mr. Carter is hinting at, if I understand it correctly. As always, please feel free to correct me.