Writing in Haaretz, Alon Liel writes an open letter to Bush seeking the kind of assistance that he has not been willing to provide over 8 long years: “Mr. President, as the one who has run the world for the past eight years, and by extension the Middle East, you have played no small part in the regional gains by Shi’ite fundamentalists who threaten us from every direction. You were so focused on the nuclear bomb that had yet to be produced that you didn’t bother to concern yourself with the most potent conventional weapon there is in Iran: winning hearts and minds in the region – hearts and minds that you have managed to repel and which are now in the possession of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranians don’t need to use the bomb. With their heads, their mouths and the Koran, they beat us with a knockout punch.

Mr. President, Syria is not a natural member of the Iranian fundamentalist camp. Just ask the most renowned Orientalists at a university not far from where you stand today in Jerusalem. The Syrians fear the Iranians almost as much as we do. You have a one-time opportunity to stop Syria from falling completely into Iranian hands. Mr. President, give us a chance to at least ensure quiet on our northern front. We have our hands full as it is with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and, perhaps very soon, the West Bank.”

Northern Exposure