Washington Dubious Wisdom

Walter Russel Mead, a Carterist (that a Jimmy Carter backer), writs of "The Carter Syndrome" in Foreign Policy claiming that Barack Obama might yet revolutionize America's foreign policy. But if he can't reconcile his inner Thomas Jefferson with his inner Woodrow Wilson, the 44th president could end up like No. 39.

His touching on Israel:

While Bush argued that the only possible response to the 9/11 attacks was to deepen America's military and political commitments in the Middle East, Obama initially sought to enhance America's security by reducing those commitments and toning down aspects of U.S. Middle East policy, such as support for Israel, that foment hostility and suspicion in the region...

...It is not only Americans who will challenge the new American foreign policy. Will Russia and Iran respond to Obama's conciliatory approach with reciprocal concessions -- or, emboldened by what they interpret as American weakness and faltering willpower, will they keep pushing forward? Will the president's outreach to the moderate majority of Muslims around the world open an era of better understanding, or will the violent minority launch new attacks that undercut the president's standing at home? Will the president's inability to deliver all the Israeli concessions Arabs would like erode his credibility and contribute to even deeper levels of cynicism and alienation across the Middle East?...

You caught this, right?

support for Israel, that foment hostility and suspicion in the region

And does this fact, which I do not dispute:

the moderate majority of Muslims around the world

really mean anything in that they have not proven willing or capable of stymmieing the violent, terror minority?

This passes for wisdom in Washington?

But worse, read this again and contemplate what it really means:

all the Israeli concessions Arabs would like

because you know what the Arabs really want and like.