I'm getting subtle pressure from certain readers to elevate the level of  my blog discourse, so today -- with President Obama heading to the Middle East -- here's my Fix-it plan for that troubled corner of the world.

As Obama suggests, Israel's borders should be returned to pre-1967. What is currently the West Bank should become a New Palestinian State. Then the following sequence should occur:

Immediately after the New Palestinian State declares statehood, it’s enemies, including Israel and the United States, should mass on its borders, declare the Western versin of Jihad and enforce a no-fly zone. Our mandate should be to drive all inhabitants of the new nation into the sea. Great Britain, which is good at these things, should enforce a blockade so the criminal state cannot get weapons or additional people to defend itself. If possible, we should attempt to round up the rogue nation's leaders and haul them before the International Criminal Court.

 If the new nation, by dint of its guile and courage, miraculously survives, it should apply for membership in the United Nations. The application should be rejected because the New Palestinian State is a threat to global stability. Once the New Palestinian State has signed an armistice with us and our allies, it should be allowed to join the UN, but the vote should be deeply divided. As sworn enemies of the new state, we should vote against its admission to the community of civilized nations.

 From this point onward the New Palestinian State should develop a close, collaborative relationship with a major nuclear power. Pakistan is a logical candidate.  With the nurturing assistance of Pakistan, the New Palestinian State can evolve into a nuclear power in its own right, thus lending an aura of  Apocalyptic portent to an already volatile region.

Roughly twenty years after our initial invasion of the New Palestinian State, the US and its allies should again mass menacingly on the country’s borders. Our warships in the Persian Gulf and bases in Iraq can help ratchet up the threat. Our goal should be to place the New Palestinian State in abject fear for its survival. If everything goes as planned, the new Palestinian State will do the right thing, give up and cease to exist. If it does not and instead launches a successful preemptive attack that results in territorial gains that make it even harder to be invaded, we must take strong action.  We should condemn the New Palestinian State as a criminal occupier and insist that the borders be returned to how they looked when the New Palestinian State was nearly destroyed at its birth.

Only when the New Palestinian State agrees to these simple, humane measures will we have lasting peace in the Middle East.