Bush Officials End Support of Sharon's Tough Stance
In interviews, officials said the administration decided on Tuesday that it had to respond strongly to Mr. Sharon, lest the Israeli prime minister interpret Washington's silence as implicit permission to intensify the conflict or declare an all-out war.

"We had to make clear to him that there is simply no evidence that approach will succeed," an official involved in the discussion said. "At a minimum, it is a policy that will not work; more likely it will be counterproductive."

That determination led Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to tell a House subcommittee today that the prime minister "has to take a hard look at his policies to see whether they will work."

Then, in a pointed statement that senior Administration officials prepared late Tuesday, Secretary Powell added, "If you declare war against the Palestinians thinking that you can solve the problem by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed, I don't know that that leads us anywhere."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/07/international/middleeast/07DIPL.html