Bringing Democracy to the Middle East...
...and then subverting it.
One of the probems this regime has is a failure of intelligence. By that I mean it just isn't too bright. Given the profound ill will and distrust of the United States in the Middle East because of the invasion of Iraq and the recent sabre rattling at Iran and Syria, why would BushCo be surprised that the Palestinians would vote in a government openly hostile to the US and Israel? And yet the maladministration was shocked at Hamas's election victory. Secretary of State Rice expressed what is apparently a favorite regime excuse over the elections: "Who could have imagined a Hamas victory?" ("Who could have imagined terrorists using passenger jets as missiles?" "Who could have imagined the levees would fail?")
This failure of "imagination" is apparently not going to deter the Emperor in Chief. He is demanding a do-over, a mulligan, if you will. From the NY Times:
The United States and Israel are discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government so that newly elected Hamas officials will fail and elections will be called again, according to Israeli officials and Western diplomats.
The intention is to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections to the point where, some months from now, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, is compelled to call a new election. The hope is that Palestinians will be so unhappy with life under Hamas that they will return to office a reformed and chastened Fatah movement.
...They say Hamas will be given a choice: recognize Israel's right to exist, forswear violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements — as called for by the United Nations and the West — or face isolation and collapse.
Opinion polls show that Hamas's promise to better the lives of the Palestinian people was the main reason it won. But the United States and Israel say Palestinian life will only get harder if Hamas does not meet those three demands. They say Hamas plans to build up its militias and increase violence and must be starved out of power.
The strategy has many risks, especially given that Hamas will try to secure needed support from the larger Islamic world, including its allies Syria and Iran, as well as from private donors.
It will blame Israel and the United States for its troubles, appeal to the world not to punish the Palestinian people for their free democratic choice, point to the real hardship that a lack of cash will produce and may very well resort to an open military confrontation with Israel, in a sense beginning a third intifada.
The message from the US is clear: yes, you must have a democracy, but only if you elect the people we tell you to elect. Otherwise we will destabilize your government and you'll have to do it all over again until you get it right. Democracy? Hardly. More like imperial domination at its most cynical.
The effect will be to draw the Islamic Middle East more tightly together against the West, especially against the US and against Israel. How intelligent is that?
Way to go, George.
One of the probems this regime has is a failure of intelligence. By that I mean it just isn't too bright. Given the profound ill will and distrust of the United States in the Middle East because of the invasion of Iraq and the recent sabre rattling at Iran and Syria, why would BushCo be surprised that the Palestinians would vote in a government openly hostile to the US and Israel? And yet the maladministration was shocked at Hamas's election victory. Secretary of State Rice expressed what is apparently a favorite regime excuse over the elections: "Who could have imagined a Hamas victory?" ("Who could have imagined terrorists using passenger jets as missiles?" "Who could have imagined the levees would fail?")
This failure of "imagination" is apparently not going to deter the Emperor in Chief. He is demanding a do-over, a mulligan, if you will. From the NY Times:
The United States and Israel are discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government so that newly elected Hamas officials will fail and elections will be called again, according to Israeli officials and Western diplomats.
The intention is to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections to the point where, some months from now, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, is compelled to call a new election. The hope is that Palestinians will be so unhappy with life under Hamas that they will return to office a reformed and chastened Fatah movement.
...They say Hamas will be given a choice: recognize Israel's right to exist, forswear violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements — as called for by the United Nations and the West — or face isolation and collapse.
Opinion polls show that Hamas's promise to better the lives of the Palestinian people was the main reason it won. But the United States and Israel say Palestinian life will only get harder if Hamas does not meet those three demands. They say Hamas plans to build up its militias and increase violence and must be starved out of power.
The strategy has many risks, especially given that Hamas will try to secure needed support from the larger Islamic world, including its allies Syria and Iran, as well as from private donors.
It will blame Israel and the United States for its troubles, appeal to the world not to punish the Palestinian people for their free democratic choice, point to the real hardship that a lack of cash will produce and may very well resort to an open military confrontation with Israel, in a sense beginning a third intifada.
The message from the US is clear: yes, you must have a democracy, but only if you elect the people we tell you to elect. Otherwise we will destabilize your government and you'll have to do it all over again until you get it right. Democracy? Hardly. More like imperial domination at its most cynical.
The effect will be to draw the Islamic Middle East more tightly together against the West, especially against the US and against Israel. How intelligent is that?
Way to go, George.
posted by Diane at 4:38 AM
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