...only to order Israel not to follow it. Condemns Bin-Lauden as a terrorist, and Arafat as a diplomat! Anyone else see a problem with this so called Doctrine? Its as hollow as a Bush promise,(which seems to have as much weight as a Clinton promise lately) and its these breaking of promises to the base that got him in thats reflecting on his poll numbers!
Bush's duty is to look after the interests of the U.S. first, not the interests of Israel first. He has never said that Israel is not a sovereign nation that must implement his every whim just on his say-so. He enunciates positions vis-a-vis their problems that he believes are in the best interests of the U.S., but has not threatened force if they do not agree with us and do otherwise.
At the moment the Palestinians per se are not 'proved' to be involved in plots to harm Americans on American soil. Hamas and Hezbollah and other groups are on our terrorist list, and they are also a threat to Israel, and although they most likely have ties to Arafat, the U.S., as far as I know, doesn't have proof of this of sufficient weight to justify a unilaterally attack on him by the U.S.
So far, our President has never personally spoken to Arafat, let alone shaken his hand, nor has Laura kissed his wife on the cheek. His opinion of Arafat could hardly be lower, but he is looking out for the best interests of the United States of America. You may believe he has it wrong, but he does not believe that the pretext exists yet for the U.S. to attack or condone attacks on the person of Arafat.
If Arafat is tied to a plot to harm Americans on American soil, this will turn on a dime.