Yup...there is plenty of blame to go around. My problem is that our government shares in the blame rather than leads the way towards a solution. And our disreputable digression into Iraq has only made matters worse and more dangerous.

The roots of the expansion of Islamic fundamentalism lie in the passion generated for the Palestinian "cause." Solve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict by getting them to peaceably co-exist as two distinct independent states and Islamic moderates gain political standing and power in Arab countries throughout the Middle East. Without this formula, the radicals are able readily recruit more to their ideology and Arab governments serve this constituency rather than the moderates. This is why HAMAS won the elections. This is also why the Lebanese government has refused to take over security in the Bekaa Valley and left an unfettered Hezbolla in place there.

Now I know that this is no small task. Clinton almost got there and got burned by Arafat. But George Bush has essentially walked way from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict altogether (he saw no domestic political payoff in it). The U.S. is no longer a player in motivating the search for solutions. Our absence in these matters and our diversion to Iraq has made us irrelevant and without substantive influence in this conflict. Its a very dangerous place to be.