Bush the Bystander

But you've got to think that Israel's bombing of the Beirut airport and blockade of Lebanese ports and airspace doesn't exactly strengthen Premier Fouad Siniora's hand.

Here's an exchange toward the end of the session:

"Q Does it concern you that the Beirut airport has been bombed? And do you see a risk of triggering a wider war?

"And on Iran, they've, so far, refused to respond. Is it now past the deadline, or do they still have more time to respond?

"PRESIDENT BUSH: I thought you were going to ask me about the pig.

"Q I'm curious about that, too. (Laughter.)

"PRESIDENT BUSH: The pig? I'll tell you tomorrow after I eat it."

Incapacitated

I wrote in Monday's column, Desperately Seeking Doctrine about Mike Allen and Romesh Ratnesar 's cover story for Time entitled "The End of Cowboy Diplomacy." I called attention to David E. Sanger writing in the New York Times that Bush's Chicago news conference on Friday demonstrated how the president was "discovering the limits of his own pre-emption doctrine."

I wrote in last Thursday's column about Bush's Foreign Legacy which is not looking good.

But today, the news coverage is dramatically more dire than even just a few days ago.

Robin Wright writes in The Washington Post: "The Bush administration suddenly faces three rapidly expanding crises in the Middle East, but it has limited options to defuse tensions in any of them anytime soon, U.S. officials and Middle East experts say.

"Israel has sent troops into Gaza and Lebanon over three captured soldiers -- one held by Hamas in Gaza and two seized yesterday by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The United States and its allies set a collision course with Iran over its nuclear program. And there is mounting concern that Iraq's sectarian violence is crossing the threshold to a full-blown civil war."