Re: To boil down their logic a bit...
I thought the logical progression was quite obvious: due to severe cutbacks in our military, Bush does not have the strong position required to pursue our goals in the Mideast and elsewhere without having to rely on military support from Arab nations and others. Therefore he has to take a softer position on the Israel/Palestine conflict than he otherwise might. Was it that hard to follow?
As for why the military was gutted, draw your own conclusions. You can find someone other than Clinton to blame if you want.