The first article describes the problem that Bush has with all his Middle East allies - including Israel. They do now want him to pull out of Iraq and let the Shiite militias take over. [When did you last hear of Israel agreeing with the Arab nations around her? Ever?]
The second article clearly describes the reaction of the 23 person Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the testimony of the Secretary of State, Condi Rice. To quote the Chairman, Joe Biden:
"Madame Secretary I think something very profound happened here today. There are 23 members of this committee, and all of them, with one or two notable exceptions, displayed outright hostility, from skepticism, to deep skepticism, to outright hostility to the President's plan. And I think, if the President cannot win over the Senate, that he will proceed at extreme personal poitical risk."Bush's plan is dead in the water if he can't get Congressional support, and he doesn't have it. But America's Middle East allies want the U.S. to do something other than just leave.
Bush is in a real box, one of his own making. He has been flailing around trying to get out, especially since the vote of "No Confidence" he received November 7th. The biggest concern is that he may try to get out of his box by attacking Iran and/or Syria. This would be on the old theory that if you are losing on the current playing field, expand the playing field and hope for better luck. This is where a person with empathy for others would consider the costs of his actions to other people. Unfortunately, both Bush and Cheney have shown no evidence of a scintilla of empathy for either American troops or the people in Iraq, Iran or Syria.
It really looks like a Constitutional Crisis coming up. And soon.
[Cudos to Booman for such a clear explanation of the problem. Best I have seen.]
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