Eugene Robinson (no, not the Atlanta Falcons DB who was busted on the eve of Super Bowl XXXIII BWAAHAHAHAAAA, ok seriously) editorial in the Buffalo News:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks of building a "new Middle East," but the Bush administration construction plan seems to begin with setting the old Middle East on fire. The bungled occupation of Iraq has drawn new recruits to the jihadist cause around the world, and now the disproportionate Israeli assault on Lebanon is doing the same thing. We are at war with an ideology, and pounding it frontally just disperses it. It's like trying to smash mercury with a hammer.

Smashing mercury with a hammer, they don't want to change tactics Eugene, this is their plan of action, we are witnessing the "birth pangs of a new middle east."