Talk Story
Bush’s Mideast waffling
damages his popularityIN THE FACE of the suicide bombings in Israel that spurred ruthless counter-assaults against Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority headquarters, many Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to understand the Bush administration's Middle East policy.
Albert Hunt, writing for the Wall Street Journal, called it "feckless," a two-dollar word meaning purposeless, feeble or ineffective.
To those of us who have difficulty distinguishing a moral difference between crashing a hijacked plane into a skyscraper and setting off a nail bomb in a supermarket, the president's statement that "You're either with us or with the terrorists" is sounding increasingly like Bush Sr.'s "Read my lips: No new taxes."
Public opinion is perceptibly shifting. Of almost 250,000 respondents to an online poll at Netscape.com, 45 percent graded the president's handling of the Mideast crisis A or B, while 43 percent gave it a D or an F.
When George W. Bush appeared on the JumboTron screen in Baltimore for baseball's opening day festivities, Hunt noted, the crowd ignored him but minutes later it gave a tremendous ovation to Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams when he appeared on the same screen.
Some would say the president, with post-Sept. 11 approval ratings near 90 percent, has political capital to burn. If you have it, why not spend it?
Well, spend it he has. He first opposed the popular McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill and then signed it, satisfying neither supporters nor opponents.
An erstwhile free trader, Bush also caved in to the lumber and steel industries -- important campaign contributors -- and imposed protectionist tariffs, which in the end will be paid by Americans for more expensive goods.
Will Rogers said, "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock." We've got the rock, but seem to be confused about which dog to throw it at.
While our policies toward Israel and Palestine appeared adrift, Bush also changed direction in Afghanistan, abandoning Colin Powell's plan to send in an international peacekeeping force, to the dismay of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan leader, and much of the rest of the anti-terrorism alliance.
All this has presented an opportunity for Democrats, but they appear to be more than willing to give Bush additional rope to hang himself rather than go head-to-head with his flashy approval ratings.
Columnist Mark Shields points out that Bush "has been the beneficiary of, rather than the prime mover responsible for, this historic surge of national unity."
He chastises Democrats for being too timid to call Bush to task for his administration's "very questionable policies" and says they are depriving the nation of much-needed public debate.
"There must be some Democrat with the courage to say publicly that the emperor is wearing a Speedo," Shields wrote.
Admittedly, the Middle East situation presents a thorny policy dilemma. As U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it Thursday: "It would be a miscalculation of monumental proportions to believe that removing Chairman Arafat from the political scene and dismantling the Palestinian Authority would create conditions where Israel can achieve security for itself."
On the other hand, "The Palestinian Authority seems to believe that failing to act against terrorism, and inducing turmoil, chaos and instability, will cause the government and people of Israel to buckle," Annan said. "They will not."
Arafat was wrong not to quash terrorism, yet many feel Israel has overreacted. According to Hunt, what's needed is "active U.S. engagement and leadership." He proposes enlisting Democrat George Mitchell to direct a U.S. peace effort but says, "Don't hold your breath."
Bush reacted to the Sept. 11 attacks with clarity and vision. The shock of that catastrophe swept away any nagging doubts about our national purpose and vaulted him to the peak of power and popularity in a united nation.
Since September, the clarity is gone and the unity is eroding. It will take renewed courage and resolve to bring them back.
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.