First combat US ignorance. Then we may have peace

So much for the "Bush Doctrine", that simple litmus-test of the war against terror, proclaimed shortly after 11 September, in which "those who are not with us are against us". Even then the doctrine was leaky. Among those deemed to be bulwarks of America's coalition were such pillars of ambiguity as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. But no matter, the doctrine more or less held, as Mr Bush earned wide praise for his handling of the first phase of his war against terror.

The Middle East, to whose agony this paper today devotes four pages, has demonstrated the limits of foreign policy by sloganeering in the bloodiest and most emphatic way imaginable. "Look, my job isn't to nuance," the President told an interviewer before his summit with Tony Blair. He was being questioned about the suicide- bombers and Israel's tank operations in the occupied West Bank, events that were so inconsiderately diverting attention from the preparations to get rid of Saddam Hussein.

But in the Middle East, where both sides are right and both sides are wrong, Mr Bush is belatedly learning that nuances are all. The Doctrine classifies Yasser Arafat as a terrorist; yet Middle East realities make him an inescapable negotiating partner. Ariel Sharon is a close ally, yet his bloody record makes Israel the prime obstacle to better relations between the US and the Arab world. The tragedy which is unfolding is in good measure a tragedy of American ignorance.