By Patrick J. Buchanan – April 9, 2002

Seventy-two hours after President Bush told Ariel Sharon to pull out of the West Bank “without delay,” the Israeli army was still pounding away at Palestinians in the biggest offensive there since 1967.

“I meant what I said,” an exasperated president railed at Sharon yesterday afternoon. Yet, still, the Israeli war machine rolled on.

Round one in the clash between the president and prime minister thus goes to Sharon. And before the president puts America’s credibility on the line again, he might reconsider. For in any face-off with Sharon, he is likely to be rebuffed again.