And the efforts of the spin doctors in Washington were not likely to alter the sense among Palestinians that their chief had lost the diplomatic battle.
"There is no doubt it will be a tough diplomatic battle," he said in his first public comments since he arrived a week ago.
"But by winning a diplomatic battle we increased our pyschological vulnerabilities vis-a-vis our public opinions."
Spock, face absolutely unreadable, watched the diplomatic battle.
How to approach the diplomatic battle, what one intended to use to maneuver.
So it was last fall and winter during the diplomatic battles that preceded the war in Iraq.
Syria's regime fought a stubborn diplomatic battle to prevent the Arab League from deploying observers inside the country.
With the two couples confined to their homes, the diplomatic battle over the children heightened.
The Swiss supreme court decision, made public Thursday, ended for the moment an intense legal and diplomatic battle.
Mott was a diplomatic battle all the way.