No Strategy as middle east crisis deepens, Al Qaeda claims victory as elections open doors to what?

The ingredients for another major crisis between Israel and the Palestinians have been piling up for most of this year.
What makes the current position so dangerous is that neither side has a coherent political strategy for dealing with the other.That leaves a vacuum, which is being filled with violence. Sound familiar and tiresome? The lack of strategy is staggering!

Israel has been in a political tailspin since the conflict in Lebanon in the summer, full of recriminations about the war's lessons and consequences. The ingredients for another major crisis between Israel and the Palestinians have been piling up for most of this year.The crisis between the two sides is deepening - and more than ever in need of international diplomatic intervention.But nothing credible is in sight. http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Then we have this!

Al Qaeda in Iraq's purported leader vowed on Friday that his fighters would never rest until they have reached Jerusalem and destroy the White House. Al Qaeda in Iraq's purported leader vowed on Friday that his fighters would never rest until they have reached Jerusalem and destroyed the White House.

In the audio tape made available on a militant web site, a man introduced as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir said Al Qaeda has 12,000 fighters at the ready in Iraq.

Describing George W. Bush as "the most stupid president" in U.S. history, the Al Qaeda leader reached out to the Muslim world and said his group was winning faster than expected in Iraq.The U.S. president's policy had enabled the militant group to achieve their goal of fighting more Americans, said the Al Qaeda leader.

"We call the lame duck (Bush) not to hurry up in escaping the same way the defense minister did," he said, referring to the removal of Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary following the Democrats' victory in Midterm elections."They are getting ready to leave, because they are no longer capable of staying," the Al Qaeda leader said.

"Remain steadfast in the battlefield you coward," he called on the U.S. President. http://www.foxnews.com/...

I have to say, I do agree with him that Bush is the stupidest President in History. However I have been saying all along that regardless of when we leave, they will be following us and Bush better realize that. I also believe Bush will stay the course in Iraq regardless of what we say as long as he is President. which leads me to this!
Democratic control of Congress, public dislike for the Iraq war and the departure of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld could open the door for a policy shift in the conflict, but early maneuvering for the 2008 presidential election could slam the door shut.

What happens will depend largely on how the White House, leaders of both parties and the candidates to replace President Bush in two years interpret the results of this week's voting and seek political footing for the 2008 race, analysts said.

Although both parties want to salvage political and military success in Iraq for its own sake, the war's prominence as a political issue complicates bipartisan cooperation. http://www.cnn.com/...
Any way you look it our options are seriously limited. Fight here or come home and fight them here. Any way you look at it bush's middle east breakdown is progressing out of his control. Saddam's hanging will put it on the next level!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com