But the situation on the ground has run far ahead of the political planning, with proposals for some sort of temporary United Nations administration buttressed by an international force still vague.
Without some sort of programme, the Netanyahu administration was likely to bomb the nuclear facility at Natanz.
"Everybody here understands that you're not going to do a peace process unless you have some sort of arrangement," a Bush administration official who has helped shape policy toward Colombia said by telephone from Washington.
Supporters believe that the former governor, a long-time energy company middle manager with North Carolina-based Duke Energy, will get some sort of position in the new administration.
Democratic fund-raisers said a more robust effort would require some sort of public sign that the administration would look favorably upon such activity, or at least not speak out against it.
Much like the low-end manufacturing models that were the drivers of regional economic growth, there has been a push to slash the sort of administration and salary expenditures that cause concern to many western donors.
But pressure is building on the administration for some sort of signal about its plans.
Democrats are saying privately that they might accept some sort of tax reduction provided the Bush administration is willing, in turn, to repeal part of the previously enacted tax cut that takes place several years from now.
To judge by some of the justices' opinions, the court may be trying to nudge the administration into some sort of Geneva Convention-like judicial process, perhaps allowing trials using lower standards of proof ("preponderance of evidence" not "beyond reasonable doubt").
It is a complaint based in part on his focus on luring new corporations to the city and reinforced by a Chicago Tribune report alleging that more than half of his donors had received some sort of benefits in return from his administration.
