Now that Paul Wolfowitz has been driven from his position at the World Bank, insiders here in Washington concur thatAmerica’s neocon moment in the Middle East is officially over. So what does the future, and the 2008 presidential elections, hold for American policy in the Middle East? Iraq. Recently, the Democratic-led Senate rejected a bill demanding the White House set a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The Dems’ two top presidential candidates,Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, both senators, voted for the bill, understanding that it was doomed to fail regardless. In other words, they are having it both ways, and the same sort of indecision and half-measures that characterized the current White House will undoubtedly define a Democratic administration as well. Are the Republicans any more focused? Perhaps, but that is besides the point. As Al Hayat’s Hazem Saghieh has explained, the problem in Iraq is Iraq. There is
