Think George W. Bush struck a nerve this week?

The lamest duck of all was thousands of miles away from American soil, yet inserted himself into the presidential race in a big way.

A brief rundown:

• In Israel commemorating that great nation’s 60th anniversary, Bush says Democrats favor “appeasement” of terrorists, who he likens to Nazis.
• Barack Obama, though not mentioned by name, issues a statement rejecting Bush’s comments and saying they distort his views.
• John McCain blasts Obama’s comments in a speech to the NRA.
• Obama slams Bush again, saying the president “did something that presidents don’t do” and that “alienates us from the rest of the world.”
• Republicans say Democrats are overreacting; McCain criticizes Obama’s experience and questions his judgment.
• Obama blasts McCain for “embracing” Bush’s attacks.

Not bad for 48 hours!

After the war in Iraq and seven years of Bush foreign policy, his remarks in Israel on Thursday left the entire Democratic party fuming.

Their likely presidential candidate was quick to fire back in kind.

“After almost eight years, I did not think I could be surprised about anything that George Bush says, but I was wrong,” Obama said. “The president did something that presidents don’t do - launch a political attack targeted toward the domestic market in front of a foreign delegation.”

Later Friday at a news conference, Obama criticized Bush again:

“The speech yesterday wasn’t about an actual policy argument, it was about politics … about trying to scare the American people. And that’s what will not work in this election. Who is this ’some’ that they were talking about? … Was this just a straw man that they were setting up? And if so … what was the purpose of the remarks? I’m less concerned about whether the remarks were being directed against me personally, because frankly there is no evidence out there that I’ve ever suggested that we should engage terrorists. So obviously, it didn’t apply to me.”

The GOP nominee, John McCain, did not support Bush’s remarks directly Thursday, but offered his own stinging rebuke of Obama, stating:

“It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama, that shows naivety and inexperience and lack of judgment, to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country who says that Israel is a stinking corpse.”

Obama has said he would meet with Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a sworn enemy of Israel, his first year of office without preconditions.

Barack Obama’s reply to John McCain:

“I have been adamant about not negotiating with Hamas, a terrorist organization that has vowed to destroy Israel, and won’t recognize them.”

Barack Obama said McCain wants to “double down” on Bush’s “failed policies,” and that he “still hasn’t spelled out one substantial way in which he would be different from George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy.”

“If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate that I’m happy to have any time, any place, and that is a debate I will win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for,” he said.

Hitting back again, McCain responded to Obama’s claims at a meeting of the National Rifle Association in Louisville, Kentucky:

“I have some news for Sen. Obama. … Unconditional meetings with a man who calls Israel a ’stinking corpse’ … will not convince Iran to give up its nuclear program. It is reckless … to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests.”

McCain said it “would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don’t have enemies. That’s not the world we live in. And until Sen. Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has strength, judgment and determination to keep us safe.”

All of this is posturing and conjecture to a degree - the sad truth is that any U.S. president will be forced to negotiate with terrorists or rogue states at some point, be it Hamas, Sudan, Iran, North Korea or others. It is foolish to think or act as if there is no ambiguity involved in foreign affairs - this flawed thinking has dug us the hole we’re buried in now.

Barack Obama is smart to hit back against this fast and hard.

Seven years of dreadful ideas, most notably the Iraq war, have left U.S. foreign policy in peril. This year’s election pits scare tactics and the status quo against intelligent, nuanced and measured leadership.

It’s a debate we can and must win.