WARFARE IN THE TRENCHES: This Washington Post article is headlined "Defiant Sharon Losing Support in White House."
A closer read of the article, though, makes it appear that this is merely a continuation of the regular debate between the State Department types on the one hand, who are loath to allow Sharon free reign, and the Cheney-Rumsfeld axis on the other.
First, the decisive action-phobes:
After months of steadfast backing of Sharon by the Bush administration, senior White House aides are beginning to express doubts about whether the Israeli leader can be a long-term partner in achieving the administration's goals in the Middle East.
White House aides also fear that Sharon's intransigence in the face of Bush's repeated demands over the past week for an end to the Israeli attacks could make the president appear ineffective and erode his standing in the world.
As part of the emerging shift of opinion about the Israeli leader, some White House officials are now making a distinction between support for Israel and support for Sharon.
"Sharon is arguably doing what he thinks needs to be done," a senior administration official said. "After he's finished, what's next? The fear is that he knows no other way than being tough."
This might be reading something into nothing, but I find it interesting that the article distinguishes between the steadfast backing of Sharon by "the Bush administration" and the supposedly new questioning by "senior White House aides." Does that imply that those "senior White House aides" did not agree with the earlier steadfast backing? That's probably reading too closely, but it may be true.
A more likely tip-off is the fear that Sharon's actions may make the President appear ineffective in the world. Somehow, I don't think that fear is felt by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz et al. I detect a State Department following its usual instincts.
As another reminder that the headline may be a faction fighting for supremacy within the White House through the press, the article states:
Some administration officials said Sharon has been more receptive to Bush's request than is publicly apparent. "We're being precipitous if we base what we say only on what we see," one official said but would not elaborate.