Then There's This: 'Countering Iran in Gaza and Beyond'

[WillyT]

By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, January 4, 2009

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A strange brew of wishful thinking and studied inaction passed for George W. Bush's Middle East peace policy for eight years. But in his final days, this president must act to contain the consequences of a regional conflict he has allowed to fester.

Israel's brutal assault on Hamas rocketeers -- and the Palestinian civilians among whom they hide in the Gaza Strip -- is not just another tactical round of mutual, if unequal, bloodletting by ancient adversaries. Israel's campaign was skillfully conceived with strategic aims that involve Iran, the American political calendar and perhaps the nature of pan-Arabism today.

Bush must respond at that strategic level -- within his time-limited means. It is pointless to expect him suddenly to exert pressure on Israel for lasting concessions to the Palestinians. He did not just give Israel a green light to inflict as much damage as possible on Hamas once that radical movement foolishly renounced a six-month-old truce. Bush knocked down the traffic light post and waved the Israelis through the intersection.

His unwavering support will not have amazed Israeli leaders. However outwardly positive Barack Obama was about Israel during the campaign, the president-elect is an unknown quantity for them. To Israel it must have made sense to slam Hamas as hard as it could under Bush and start with a theoretically clean slate with Obama on Jan. 20.

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More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/02/AR2009010202103.html

:shrug: