Bush Mid East Moves Too Late Too Anemic!

This is a cartoon I did for the Flour Bluff Sun in the early days of the Bush administration.
At the time the second Intifada was just getting going, touched off by Ariel Sharon's deliberate provocation. Sharon was a retired general and a member of the Knesset. He enraged Palestinians with a visit to the Temple Mount, known to the Palestinians as the El Aqsa Mosque. Sharon went there with a large military bodyguard which was in violation of the existing agreements. This sparked off violence which continues to this day.
The Bush administration stood by and did nothing. They could have used the influence of the United States to help dampen the violence but chose a hands off policy. The violence spiraled and eventually Sharon would become Israeli Prime Minister, Arafat would be weakened and pave the way for an eventual Hezbollah take over years later.
Sharon is still in a coma now and Arafat is dead. Bush, in spite of his sputtering Annapolis meeting, remains in a stupor.