Maybe it's just me, but as far as I can tell the biggest obstacle to peace in Israel and Palestine is Ariel Sharon. It was, after all, his appearance near the Dome of the Rock, intentionally timed for maximum provocation, which reignited the intifada, thus driving the Netenyahu government out and Sharon in. He has repeatedly confounded Shimon Perez's efforts to reestablish negotiations, and apparently has no intention of regulating the behavior of Israeli security forces, while targeting their Palestinian opposite numbers for retaliatory destruction. But maybe it isn't just me - maybe it's Colin Powell and others in the State Department who realize that the intransigence of the present Israeli government is as destabilizing as the actions of extremist Palestinians.

Let Sharon bluster all he wants about the US 'courting' Muslim nations; the simple facts are:

Support in principle for an independent Palestinian state is a continuation of American policy, not a change, going back at least as far as the Camp David Accords;

We must obtain the cooperation of, and in many cases the permission to act within, any nation on the planet in which terrorists have found haven. If pausing to reiterate long-term US foreign policy in the Middle East is necessary in that effort, so be it.

Our leaders have been very careful to repeat at every opportunity that our actions are not and should not be directed at Muslims in general or at Islam as a way of life. Sharon seems incapable of getting the message. There's a broader message, too, which I think ought to be stated more often: this new war is not just America's, and it is against terrorism of all kinds.

[As to the performance of the President and his team, I say: the nomination of Colin Powell may be seen as the best move GWB made during his administration.]

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