THE REAL WORLD INTRUDES - AT 11:05 P.M. ET:  Well, the real world intruded at Fort Hood today.  The killer wasn't, apparently, affected by President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world. 

And the real world has now intruded somewhere else.  Palestinian President Abbas, on whom the Obama administration had staked a great deal in the Mideast "peace process," has decided not to stand for reelection in January, throwing the future of the Palestinian territories into chaos.  The New York Times reports: 

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, warned on Thursday that he would not seek re-election, the latest sign that the Obama administration’s drive to broker a Middle East peace accord, one of President Obama’s key foreign policy goals, has fallen into disarray.

Mr. Abbas, 74, has threatened to step aside before, but coming immediately after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit to the region aimed at reviving a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, his announcement laid bare the deepening tensions over the administration’s failure to extract an Israeli settlement freeze or any concessions from Arab leaders.

Mrs. Clinton’s visit, which she characterized as a success, sowed anger and confusion among Palestinians and other Arabs after she praised as “unprecedented” the offer by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to slow down, but not stop, construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In a televised speech from his office in Ramallah, Mr. Abbas, who replaced Yasir Arafat five years ago as president of the Palestinian Authority, said, “I have told my brethren in the P.L.O. that I have no desire to run in the forthcoming election,” referring to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

It was not clear whether Mr. Abbas, considered a moderate, pro-Western leader, was determined to quit, although he said his decision was final. He may stay in his post regardless, because it is far from certain that elections he has called for January will be held then and there are few alternatives to him as leader.

COMMENT:  This is the irrational, unstable regime that Obama expects will sign some kind of peace agreement.  Not anytime soon.

November 5,  2009