What Bush Hath Wrought in the Middle East

What Bush Hath Wrought in the Middle East

MESH continues its series on assessing President Bush’s legacy in the Middle East:


Robert Freedman says the major blunders were diverting attention to Iraq before Afghanistan was finished, and not using force on Iran’s nuclear program when we had the opportunity earlier. He gives a pass to the administration on Israel-Palestine, noting that it was the intransigence of the parties involved, rather than U.S. mistakes, that prevented a breakthrough.


Hillel Fradkin argues that the U.S. “still has not found policies to address the threat of Iran and its allies and proxies”, though he says Iraq may eventually go on the plus side of the Freedom Agenda ledger.


Alan Dowty writes that “it’s hard to see how or where we are better off” in the Middle East. He thinks President Bush will be judged by the “geostrategic gain for Iran” as well as the failure to apprehend the perpetrators of 9/11.