President Bush Too Quick to Talk to His Enemies

PRESIDENT Bush’s administration has failed to effectively support its projects for peace and democracy in the Middle East. The chaos and daily attacks against innocent people in Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and Palestine prove that America’s experiment has failed. Finding it difficult to accept failure, the Americans are trying to cover it up by giving imaginary names to the situation. The result is not creative chaos but an American failure for allowing the chaos to occur.

This era is dominated by the United States, which is brandishing its sword against terrorism. But President Bush doesn’t have the leadership qualities to win the war on terror. Always ready to negotiate with his enemies, he is also prepared to compromise with the two nations leading the battle to kick America out of the Middle East: Syria and Iran. Wanting to play a leadership role and clear the region of American forces, Syria and Iran have launched a campaign to reach an understanding with Israel. Perhaps the United States had no option but to stick to its democratic project, but those promoting fundamentalist ideology no longer have any fear of the United States or its allies.

And it now appears that America’s attempt to impose democracy has become unacceptable in Iraq. As a result, Iranian and Syrian influence in Iraq is growing along with Israeli regional tyranny. This is to say nothing of Lebanon, where the situation is extremely tenuous. Although the sole superpower has remained faithful to its democratic beliefs, it has been incapable of dealing with most major issues in the Middle East.

Although the solution to the problem of Palestine is obvious, the Palestinian cause has been subject to American doublespeak. The Iraq crisis has been handled improperly from the beginning. To stabilize Iraq’s security situation, the Americans should have ended the influence of Syria and Iran at any cost. President Bush’s lack of leadership and willingness to negotiate with his enemies threatens all his Middle East plans. No matter the cost, the United States is supposed to spread democracy, establish peace between Arab states and Israel and create a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.

From time to time the United States has produced men with very strong spirits for leadership. This was obvious in the last days of President Franklin Roosevelt who from his death bed, advised his successor to annihilate Japan’s forces, warning that the Japanese Empire was capable of redrawing the world map.

Indeed, when Roosevelt died, President Harry Truman continued the war by striking at the heart of the Japanese leadership. Truman would accept nothing less than victory over the Japanese radicals, and ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on that country. This decisively ended World War II and the military power of the Japanese Empire.

President Eisenhower exhibited strong leadership when he ordered Israeli forces out of Sinai after the 1956 war. Similarly, President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War against the USSR, freed Eastern Europe from the grip of communism and ushered Russia into a more democratic future. President Jimmy Carter also showed great leadership when he presented a vision of peace to Israel and Egypt, leading to the first peace accords and mutual recognition between Israel and an Arab country.

This constellation of American leaders set an example of leadership and laid the groundwork for a new international order. Now the Bush Administration, President Bush himself, has failed them.

Roosevelt feared that the Japanese had the ability to change the world. Now we have countries like Israel and North Korea, which like the Japanese Empire, want to change the political map of the world. And America does nothing, sitting silently as it drowns in Iraq, while Lebanon and Palestine are considered only in regard to how they will effect Washington’s reputation.

The United States has shown that it is unable to do two things at once and has demonstrated its lack of leadership by failing to control the spiraling chaos in the Middle East. Its failure to understand the needs of the region and fulfill its responsibilities show that its grand experiment has failed.