American President George W. Bush has just completed his first extended Mideast trip of his presidency. The visit was remarkable on two counts. First, there is the fact that Mr. Bush has not been to the region before despite its centrality to U.S. foreign policy in general and his administration's policies in particular. Second, the visit has shown the confusion, if not the incoherence, of his foreign policy.
The trip started on an ominous note as the Department of Defense went public on the eve of his departure with details of an incident in the Straits of Hormuz in early January involving the U.S. Navy and Iranian patrol boats. The United States claimed the Iranian boats were harassing the U.S. vessels and had threatened to attack. This set the tone for Mr. Bush's remarks during the six-country tour.
The president said he spent "a fair amount of time" discussing Iran on his stops. In the only public speech he made, he denounced Iran's behavior, calling the Tehran government a supporter of terrorism and saying "Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere."