Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[Amaunet]

"[President Bush is] an engaging person, but I think for some reason he's been captured by the neoconservatives around him."

At one time but I am really questioning this now. I was looking for signs of waning neocon influence, #msg-1860590, and then I received the following. The neocons, or at least a significant bloc of them, have it seems lost influence with Bush. This is all very hush, hush and backstage and maybe they can redeem themselves but at present something appears to be going on.

Slightly dated excerpt: 11 September, 2003

Unfortunately for the leadership in Jerusalem, foreign policy hawks in the Bush administration linked with Israeli hawks have lost clout in recent weeks due to the outcome of the war in Iraq. In addition to being incorrect thus far regarding their accusations of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, the Bush administration also admittedly failed to prepare for the reconstruction efforts in Iraq. An unexpected amount of U.S. military casualties, the failure to bring order and control to the country, and the inability to provide basic services to the Iraqi people such as electricity and water have all acted as a public relations disaster for the Bush administration. These mistakes have led to a weakening of support for the administration at home, making it more difficult for them to push through their more radical foreign policy objectives, such as "reshaping" the Middle East. In addition, with the failure to provide stability in Iraq, Washington is well aware that if they repeated the Baghdad model in Tehran, it could result in the same kind of instability seen in Iraq and thus deal a devastating blow to Middle Eastern oil output.

http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=89