The West tries to impose its culture and its worldview on parts of the world that are not Western.
We do not understand the mentality of the Middle East... why it does what it does, why it makes the choices that it does.
Bush is not compromising his war on terror. To a Western viewpoint... it looks like it because he is not overt in his moves.
But it takes a collapse of power, a pressure here, a pressure there, a word from Egypt or even Saudi Arabia to get things to move in the Middle East.
To move against Arafat would have the Middle East abandon the war of terror for the greater cause of pan-Arabism.
Bush has taken severe hits to make sure the Middle East doesn't flair up and rally around pan-Arabism. The obstacles are imploding... it is slow, yes... but when it the implosion is done, the West will marvel at the strategy.