Powell trip prompts painful US soul searching

Colin Powell’s disappointing Mideast peace mission is prompting painful soul searching in Washington about what can be done to keep Israeli-Palestinian violence from hurtling into all-out war.

But analysts said the secretary of state’s trip at least got the United States back into the peace process.

Despite the lack of a breakthrough, ‘‘Powell and the Bush administration did absolutely the right thing in re-engaging,’’ said Antony Blinken, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton White House. ‘‘This lets a little steam out of the situation.’’

Powell comes back without achieving even his minimum objective: a ceasefire.

But he pledged to return to the region and to keep the US engaged. President Bush, who once sought to avoid a US mediating role, echoed that pledge.

‘‘We are confronting hatred that is centuries old, disputes that have lingered for decades, but I want you to know I will continue to lead towards a vision of peace,’’ Bush said in a speech to the Virginia Military Institute.

One possible next step, Powell said as he wound up his trip, is a regional conference with international sponsorship, ‘‘to restore hope’’ and open the way to new peace negotiations.

But plans for such a conference have so far been received coolly by many in the Arab world. And a senior administration official said the president wants a chance to think about it before deciding whether to embrace such an idea.

The Powell mission comes on the heels of another disappointing trip to the region last month by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The president’s future approach may be signalled on April 25, when he meets Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, author of a land-for-peace initiative that has strong support in the Arab world.

The senior official said Bush’s Mideast plans include much greater engagement of the Arab states.

‘‘What the president is going to hear from the crown prince is that this problem has to be resolved, and that they are counting on the United States to do it,’’ said Judith Kipper, a Mideast analyst with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

‘‘The situation is intolerable, and it is affecting stability in the region.’’

But administration officials noted that Powell did succeed in getting a clearer picture from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of a withdrawal timetable and had been able to coax from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a denunciation of the most recent suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

‘‘In some ways, everybody is hostage to events. But if we don’t have diplomacy, violence dictates,’’ said Shibley Telhami, a Mideast specialist at the University of Maryland.

‘‘I really think there is no way you can move forwards from this point on unless the president is fully invested in peacemaking,’’ Telhami said. ‘‘The next couple of weeks are important.’’