Saudi Arabian Ambassador Turki al-Faisal's remarks Monday night were as carefully tailored as his gray suit. He called for peace in the Middle East and a face-saving solution for all parties involved in the violence. Speaking in a measured tone, as if a baby were sleeping in the next room, he quoted Robert Frost and Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. But beneath the diplomat's even manner was a sharp message for President Bush: If you keep failing to act in the Middle East, the region will be irrevocably damaged.

Prince Turki spoke to a few dozen scholars, journalists, administration officials, and foreign-service officers clustered in the dimly lit upstairs room of a Washington, D.C., restaurant. The dinner was hosted by Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation, who directs timely salons with newsmakers brave enough to endure follow-up questions and durable enough to be onstage from the tomato salad to the tiramisu. (Monday night, ambassador Turki talked for more than two hours.)

The Bush administration has been faulted for not acting quickly enough after the recent violence started, but Prince Turki criticized Bush for not acting to solve the tension long before the recent flare up began. Two months ago, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, brought a letter to Bush from King Abdullah advocating the steps necessary for implementing Middle East peace. "The president expressed excitement and willingness," said the ambassador, "but, alas, there was no follow through." The inactivity contributed to the current crisis: "The decisions made yesterday bear their bitter fruit today."

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