And Is Israel Any Different Than Iraq?

Rich Lowry writes about the disconnect between the Iraq he personally witnessed and the one that politicians are talking about at home:

That kind of disconnect with press coverage and the debate back home is a constant theme. The Senate recently passed a resolution sponsored by Sen. Joe Biden (D., Del.), calling for splitting Iraq in three. A colonel here scoffs that the Senate managed to agree on the one step that basically no one in Iraq wants to take.

President Bush doesn’t seem much more relevant. In discussions of what motivates Iraqis, Bush’s favorite theme of freedom never comes up. It’s always survival, fear, power, or pride, or some combination of all of them. Bush has been famously resolute, but one wonders how much — even after four grueling years — he truly understands the war on which he has staked his presidency.

Bush is also putting it on the line in Israel, to a lesser extent. Do Bush and the politicians--and the media too, for that matter--really have an idea of what Israel is up against. Given the lack of opposition to what Rice is trying to do, it seems pretty clear the answer is no.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Iraq.