  Written by Barry Rubin   Of course, the Obama Administration
has its defenders. They either ignore criticism of the
Administration's foreign policy or claim it is all partisan and
ideological. And yet the truth is that if you watch the
government's policy on a daily basis it is truly remarkable how
many dumb, avoidable mistakes are made.  I won't supply a long
list here but instead will talk about the latest one. Let's take
it step by step to see what a mess is being created.    So far,
the Administration has wasted almost ten months in this pursuit.
First, it shouted at Israel as if it were some servant to do it
fast or else. Then when Israel didn't, the Administration
realized that perhaps Israel should get something in exchange
for the concession. So it went to Arab states and asked-
presuming, wrongly, that they are desperate for a peace
agreement-for some compromise but got nothing.   But there was a
solution, sort of. Israel agreed to stop all construction once
the apartments currently being built are