POWELL, KISSINGER AND SCHULTZ ON MID-EAST

Statecraft and Stagecraft - Excerpts from Interviews with Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and George Shultz - David Samuels (Atlantic Monthly)

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell: Is it our fault that the [Palestinians and Israelis] haven't gotten a peace agreement? I don't think so. I mean, believe me, I worked hard for a year and a half on Arafat before I had to give up, he was hopeless. And I found out just what Clinton had told me the last day in office, when he said to me, "Colin, he almost drove me crazy. And it's his fault."

Former Secretary of State George Shultz: What is going on at our universities about the world of Islam right now? Damn little. What there is is sort of a romanticized version of Palestinian interest.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: It's very easy to criticize Saudi Arabia, until you begin to think of the alternatives. And I have not heard anyone come up with what they would like to see in Riyadh that would be better for us than what's there. The part about Saudi Arabia that bothers me is the continued acquiescence in the financing of the Madrassas, and my inclination would be to crack down much harder on them.