Bush Has No Good Options in Mideast Crisis
July 13, 2006 — -- George W. Bush took office intending to have a presidency focused on domestic policy. Instead, in his sixth year in the White House, Bush finds himself dealing with one international crisis after another, with escalating violence between Israel and its neighbors just his latest intractable problem overseas.
Even before the recent hostilities, of course, Bush's focus moved from trying to change the United States to trying to keep up with changing world events, some imposed upon him and some of his own making. Starting with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, through (on-going) wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the war on terror, and nuclear face-offs with Iran and North Korea, and the normal tendency of second-term presidents to shift their attention to the international realm in which they face less resistance from Congress -- for all these reasons, Bush has had to turn his time and energy away from his original agenda of a robust domestic agenda towards one with a national security focus.
The current confluence of Middle East violence and the United Nations' grappling with last week's missile launch by North Korea, while Bush is in Europe meeting with the leaders of the world's industrial nations, only serves to remind those in the United States and elsewhere that the world is a dangerous and complicated place that no American leader can control, or ignore.
Bush is keenly aware of how difficult the Middle East has been for past presidents -- both those who spent a great deal of time trying to make peace, and those who shied away from such efforts. Bush's father, the nation's 41st president, faced some of his toughest political moments on the international stage dealing with the region, including with Israel.
The current President Bush has sometimes been criticized for paying too little attention to the Middle East peace process, particularly early in his White House tenure. Now, even with no good options, Bush has little choice but to turn some of his focus to the immediate dilemma of the violence while still trying to solve the longer-term issues.
