Bush's softer approach to Mid-East

By Jon Leyne
BBC correspondent in Washington

Reeling from the Iraqi prisoner scandal which has administration hardliners on the defensive, President George W Bush looks to be trying a kindler, gentler approach to the Middle East.

King Abdullah has wrung some key concessions from Washington

Not only has Mr Bush now apologised for the humiliation and abuse of Iraqi prisoners, but he has also agreed to give the Palestinians a letter outlining what they can expect from upcoming negotiations.

It was something that Jordan's King Abdullah had been asking for, but which the White House had resisted up until now.

The Bush administration looks to be re-evaluating possibly its policies in the Middle East and definitely its presentation.

It is very hard to lecture people - as the Bush administration has been accused of by some - when the US has lost the moral high ground.

Concessions to the Palestinians

Two days ago, it emerged that King Abdullah was seeking a letter to the Palestinians from the Americans outlining what they could expect from negotiations.

It was similar to a letter that US Secretary of State Colin Powell had given to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during his recent visit to Washington.

The letter to the Palestinians is probably still being written, and no one knows whether it will be substantive.

But it was an important concession from the White House.

And the letter could be very important not only in what it contains but also as a new means for the US to be re-engage in the peace process.

Whatever is in the letter, it did re-establish some appearance of even-handedness by the Americans.

And Mr Bush, who has been seen so solidly on Israel and Ariel Sharon's side - was almost sheepish in thanking King Abdullah for suggestions on how to explain the US position to the Palestinians.

This is not the first concession from the Americans on the Middle East.

European diplomats have said that they got more from the Americans at this week's Quartet meeting - involving the US, European Union, the United Nations and Russia - than they had been expecting.

Doves in the ascendancy

The US concessions might be a tacit admission that the Americans underestimated the backlash from President Bush's endorsement of Ariel Sharon's plans for unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

But some of this obviously is fallout from the prisoner abuse scandal.

The US state department was going to release its annual report on human rights this week. It was delayed, due to what American officials first said was a printing problem.

But now it has emerged that they felt a little sheepish about bashing the rest of the world over the head for their human rights abuses in the midst of this uproar.

In Washington, some see the softening of the Bush position on the Middle East in the last few days as a shift in the balance of power between Secretary of State Colin Powell and the hawkish Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

President Bush gave a public dressing down of Mr Rumsfeld during Thursday's news conference with King Abdullah. But he also said he had no plans to sack him.

With the president's backing, it is very unlikely that senior members of Mr Bush's party will turn on the secretary of defence.

Mr Rumsfeld's fate will become a partisan issue, and the president has defused the situation for the time being.

But Mr Bush's position has also been weakened. With respect to the prisoner abuse scandal, questions will be asked of the president about what did he know and when did he know it.

And a much less sure of himself President Bush was on display with King Abdullah.

What is President Bush about if it is not clear, moral certainty?

Now he seems to be lacking that moral clarity, occupied with domestic and international damage control. And this is a scandal that has not yet run its course.