Can Israel Afford the US's New POV?

According to Yediot Acharonot, Rice is making it clear--both to Israel and the Palestinian Arabs--that the Disengagement in Gaza is only the beginning:

Speaking to the New York Times, Rice called Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "enormously courageous" and said the pullout represented a"dramatic moment in the history of the Middle East."

But she also warned, “It cannot be Gaza only,” and clarified that the Bush administration expects the IDF to withdraw from Palestinian cities in the West Bank following the Gaza operation.

This makes Michael Freund's point all the more poignant when he quotes Bush:

"I also have heard the voices of those saying, pull out now, and I've thought about their cry, and their sincere desire to reduce the loss of life by pulling our troops out. I just strongly disagree. Pulling the troops out would send a terrible signal to the enemy. Immediate withdrawal would say to the Zarqawis of the world, and the terrorists of the world, and the bombers who take innocent life around the world, you know, the United States is weak; and all we've got to do is intimidate and they'll leave."

All you need to do is replace the word “Zarqawis” with “Abu Mazens”, and “the United States” with “Israel”, in the President’s remarks, and you have a darned good reason why the proposed Israeli retreat is a mistake of strategic and historic proportions.

But the question has now been raised as to just how committed Bush is to staying the course in Iraq. The Washington Post recently came out with the headline "U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq" based on some anonymous sources. According to its sources:

"Washington now does not expect to fully defeat the insurgency before departing, but instead to diminish it, officials and analysts said. There is also growing talk of turning over security responsibilities to the Iraqi forces even if they are not fully up to original U.S. expectations, in part because they have local legitimacy that U.S. troops often do not."

Is Bush now accepting that terrorism is a reality that will not go away in Iraq? And is so, does he feel the same way about Hamas and Islamic Jihad--that it cannot be defeated and the best that can be expected is to have Abbas try on some level to keep it in check? More importantly, would such diminished expectations be superimposed on what is expected from--and demanded of--Sharon?

To a degree, Bush can walk away from Iraq in a way Israel will never be able to walk away from its terrorists. Israel can hardly afford the approach that the Post claims Bush is now taking.