I was just thinking along the same lines:
"Officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice initially sought to halt Israel's massive retaliation against Hizbullah, which abducted two Israeli soldiers on July 12. They said Ms. Rice, in twice-a-day phone calls, pressed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to significantly reduce the operation to prevent casualties and maintain the Lebanese government."
When she first came in she was SO SMART, I was in awe, and then, I don't know if it's the job, or just the subject of Israel and the Middle East, that just turns people into stupid shadows of themselves.
"When she first came in she was SO SMART, I was in awe, and then, I don't know if it's the job, or just the subject of Israel"
Condi did her graduate work under _Madeline Albright's father_, and was said to be a frequent dinner guest at the Albright household.
She's having to shed some of the Albright anti-Semitism. It's reflexive in mainstream international studies.
It's the good cop/bad cop routine. At NSA she was part of the bad cop, along with DEFSEC, Cheney and Bolton. At State, she has to be the good cop, the communicator, blah, blah. In either situation, she does what the prez tells her to do.
She has taken the position of reining in Israel from the get-go. I see no real change here.