>>Khalilzad never looked at the Iranian Foreign Minister. He directed his comments to the moderator and the audience.<<
It doesn’t matter. There are many subtle yet meaningful aspects of diplomatic protocol down to who sits where at the table which must be observed by members of the Foreign Service. After all these years the Bush administration still has not gained control of the State Department. His tossing of Bolton under the bus was his admission of that fact.
In this day and age, we do not need a Department of State. Fire them all. The president can pick up a phone anytime he wants.
The worst part about this isn’t his being on this panel, but that this story made it to the NY Times.