And electoral politics likely figured, to some degree, in the president’s decision to ignore State’s position on the Palestinians – he may have wished to satisfy his evangelical, pro-Israel base, or increase the level of support among Jews for the Republican party, or both.
The media beating the president has taken on the duration and cost of the Iraq war may help explain why he decided to handle the threat of a nuclear Iran in concert with the chimerical forces of old Europe, China and Russia.
His naïve offer to Iran notwithstanding, President Bush knows his legacy will be determined by how successfully he fought the forces of terror with the forces of freedom. He does not want to send a lesson that violence works, as Bill Clinton did by inviting Arafat to the White House more often than he did any other president or prime minister.
The strength of a great leader is the certitude of his moral vision – a resolve diminished by the slightest blink.