Overseas change

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As the Obama administration continues to settle into the rhythm of high-powered Washington politics, there is plenty of work to be done over foreign affairs.

The rest of the world has shown its distaste with the second Bush administration’s “six-shooter” approach, particularly in the Middle East.

As a sign of what it means to emphasize the Middle Eastern paradox involving Arab allies, Israel, Islamic terrorist groups and the regimes that allow them to carry out their carnage, and other NATO allies looking to turn the page, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved to select former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell as the U.S. Middle East special envoy.

Mitchell will be in charge of taking on the most attention-grabbing stage of any political theater in the world, and he already has had quite an impact on resolving difficult foreign issues.

Serving as the U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland in the mid-’90s, Mitchell made great progress in quelling the violence that shredded the region, culminating in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that led to the Irish Revolutionary Army’s disarmament and began the healing process between Irish Protestants and Catholics.

Displaying his ability to be thorough and effective as an inquisitor, Mitchell was hired by Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to create a commission to investigate a performance-enhancing drug scandal.

Even today, the Mitchell Report – as it is famously named – is referenced for the FBI’s case against anyone implicated with the matter, namely Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and dozens of other MLB players. Likewise, the suppliers, dealers, trainers and any other facilitators involved were not spared from questioning and legal action.

When former President Bill Clinton needed someone in 2000 to look into the major problems between the Arabs and the Israelis, Mitchell came back in a 2001 report on how the Palestinians need to crack down on the lawlessness and terrorism within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as the Israelis’ stopping the building of illegal settlements in those same territories.

Clearly, Mitchell has some unfinished business.

What Mitchell has within himself is crucial for the Middle East job. Being a Lebanese-American, he can relate and reach out to the Arab community in a way that few previous foreign policy experts could. His ability not to back away from the problem until a solution is found will be important when both sides refuse to negotiate.

With so many fences to mend, we ought to start using olive branches when the time comes to fix overseas issues and put away the big sticks for once.