The mid-term elections that, in George W. Bush's words, administered a good "thumping" to the Republican party and his administration have heightened expectations about a change of course in Iraq. What is required, however, is a reappraisal of policy towards the Middle East as a whole.

The way things stand now, almost anything the US and its allies attempt in the region seems to empower the radicals and thereby extend the influence of Iran. After the Iraq fiasco, and the summer war Israel waged in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbollah, has become the hero of the Arab masses, Sunni and Shia alike.