WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's new Middle East envoy says there's "no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended." And former Senate Majority leader George Mitchell is pledging his full effort to bring peace and stability to the Middle East.

Mitchell said Thursday he'll be facing a "volatile, complex and dangerous" conflict - one that has become so entrenched, it's seen by many as unchangeable. But he says Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton aren't convinced of that.

With Obama looking on, Clinton introduced Mitchell to a State Department audience, saying he'd work to advance prospects for peace between Israel and its neighbors.

Mitchell says he saw during his work as an envoy in Northern Ireland that even a conflict that dates hundreds of years can be resolved.