Daniel Pipes, one of the most ideological and radical of the neoconservative clique, has apparently fallen out of favor with the Bush crowd. The man who claims to provide "commentary and analysis on Militant Islam and the Middle East" (this was about as moderate of writing of his I could find) will not be renominated by the President to a post within the administration. Forward's E.J. Kessler reports:

In an apparent victory for radical Muslims and the left wing of the American foreign policy establishment, President Bush has failed to take any action to renominate Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes to the board of the United States Institute of Peace.

Bush appointed Pipes, a conservative Middle East analyst and syndicated columnist who has drawn the ire of some Muslims, to the publicly funded institution on August 23, 2003, after a Senate hearing on the matter ended without the presence of a quorum necessary for a confirmation vote. The controversial recess appointment ended in early December with the closing of the previous Congress. The institute has removed Pipes's name from the list of board of directors posted on its Web site.

How a man who believes the only way to true peace in the Middle East is through complete Israeli military conquest [link] could be on the board of the US Institute of Peace is beyond me. Apparently, it was also beyond him, too.

Pipes did not have a peaceful tenure at the institute, which was created by Congress "to support the development, transmission, and use of knowledge to promote peace and curb violent international conflict," according to USIP's mission statement. Last March, he clashed with the organization, lambasting it in his column for hosting a conference with a group, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, that Pipes charged employs personnel who are Muslim "radicals."

This is clearly not a move to the center for the Bush administration; other neocons such as Wolfowitz have retained their posts. Nevertheless, it's a boon to sane government for a radical ideologue like Pipes to be out of a leadership role.