Bush and Condi -- clueless.

I regret to say that Mr. Bush is just incoherent on any aspect of foreign relations that is conceptual in nature. I believe he has some good instincts but he is simply deficient when it comes to such concepts as "the national border" or "national independence from foreigners."

Now, it appears, the most serious problem between Israel and the non-Zionist entities in the neighborhood is Israeli settlements. I don't know about you but when I think of major problems in that area of the world I don't think of Israeli settlements. See our previous post "Tribal politics in Islam" for guidance on what is the real problem there or anywhere there are Muslims.

The two George W. Bushs:

Mr. Bush hasn't reconfirmed Israel's status as a Jewish state, and failed to comment when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice compared the Palestinians' plight to that of African Americans in the Alabama of her youth -- implicitly likening Israelis to Southern racists.

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. . . While the old George Bush deemed the end of terror as imperative for peace and the containment of Iran as the prerequisite for eliminating terror, the new George Bush focuses on Israeli settlement-building and hesitates to confront Tehran. It is uncertain which of the two is visiting Israel today and what policies he may pursue.

"Bush's Mideast Muddle." By Michael Oren, Wall Street Journal Online (subscription), 1/9/08.