“How… can one explain why Bush would vow to destroy any government that sponsors or harbors terrorists, yet demand the creation of a Palestinian state – a terrorist dictatorship? … Why would Bush order the destruction of al-Qaeda holdouts in Afghanistan, but angrily withdraw his support for Israel because they rounded up terrorists in Palestinian refugee camps?” These are some of the questions asked by Robert Tracinski, columnist for Creators Syndicate and senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, in his strong recent critique of President Bush’s foreign policy.

“What is missing from Bush’s policy is the guidance of long-range, abstract principles,” Tracinski continues, adding that to achieve “lasting success in the War on Terrorism, America needs principled leadership. It needs a president who can see beyond immediate concretes, like Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and think in terms of the moral precedents he sets and their long-term consequences. From this perspective, Bush’s Israel policy is becoming a disastrous failure.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 24th, 2002 and is filed under opinion.