So Much for Democratic Elections
The trick is not only to be careful of what you wish for, but to be guarded in telling the world. The West wished to get rid of the old Palestinian terrorist and PLO President, Yasser Arafat and he’s gone, first sidelined and made irrelevant, now dead.
Following that, the well-publicized hope was for free and honest elections among the Palestinians. But Bush and the EU and the UN failed to tell us that they really meant elections to produce, was another Fatah leader who would not be Hamas (although they were welcome on the ballot) to replace the intransigent Arafat. Then, maybe some progress could be made.
Well, although it’s inconceivable that Bush and Rice didn’t consider it, wasn't even on their horizon, Hamas took the day. Hamas had three things going for it;
It didn’t represent the 40 years of stalemate and extreme corruption of Arafat
It was extensively focused during all those years on providing services and financial support to Palestinians
Its militancy appealed to a continually o…