Posted on 01/27/2006 12:12:59 PM PST by ex-Texan
The way ahead appears bumpy and uncertain, but despite its chagrin at the jolting triumph of Hamas in Palestinian parliamentary elections, the Bush administration will apparently continue to fumble for a formula to bring peace to the Middle East.
One potential step under consideration is economic pressure. Both President George W. Bush and members of Congress may consider halting the millions of dollars in aid the United States has been sending the Palestinians annually in recent years.
The toughest task facing the United States is determining whether the peace process can move ahead and, if so, how. The Bush administration, which has a policy of not dealing with terror organizations, would have to find a way to negotiate with the Palestinians without talking directly to Hamas.
The militant Islamic group is sworn to destroy Israel and has conducted numerous terror attacks against that country.
Urging Hamas to renounce terrorism, which the late Yasser Arafat did under U.S. urging in 1988, President Bush said Thursday, "If your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you are not a partner in peace. And we're interested in peace."
At a White House news conference, he said a party that seeks Israel's destruction "is a party with which we will not deal." He also said, "Peace is never dead, because people want peace."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began preliminary consultations Thursday with her U.N., Russian and European counterparts to discuss their next steps. She will hold talks with them in London on Monday.
Members of the so-called Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- issued a statement citing "a fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities and the building of a democratic state."
They said the creation of a Palestinian state would require "all participants in the democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's right to exist, and disarm."
Rice also talked with Abbas and the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.
Bush left open the possibility of halting aid to the Palestinians if their government is dominated by Hamas, a militant Islamic group listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization. This year, the Palestinians are receiving $150 million for development programs on the West Bank and in Gaza.
The threat was echoed on Capitol Hill by a nonbinding Senate resolution condemning Hamas and expressing support for halting assistance to the Palestinian government.
The symbolic resolution, crafted by Sen. John Thune, says aid should be ended if the party controlling the Palestinian parliament advocates Israel's destruction, which Hamas does. It was unclear when the Senate would vote on the proposal.
Congress' reluctance to continue U.S. financial support was also illustrated by lawmakers' comments, including remarks by Rep. Dennis Hastert, who as speaker of the House is the senior official in the House of Representatives.
"Hamas has shown that it prefers terrorism against innocent civilians to pursue its political aims, and the United States should play no role in assisting a majority terrorist parliament," Hastert said in a statement.
In a similar warning, Rep. Eric Cantor, a leader of House Republicans, said, "If Hamas does not join the peaceful nations of the world at the table of cooperation and peace, the consequences will be the loss of America's support and funding for the Palestinians."
Other members of Congress also were critical of Hamas' victory over the more mainstream Fatah Party.
"The Palestinians do not believe there should be an Israel, and all too many of them believe that terrorism is the way to achieve that goal," said Sen. Charles Schumer.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham called Hamas' victory "a de facto declaration of war by the Palestinian people against the state of Israel." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the election "casts a serious shadow over the prospects for peace."
Bush called on Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S.-backed Palestinian president and Arafat's successor, to remain in office.
Abbas said he was committed to reaching peace with Israel and suggested talks would be conducted through the Palestine Liberation Organization, a possible way around a Hamas-led government.
The AP contributed to this report.
Now, in more enlightened times, wars are deemed archaic so these frigging conflicts never end.
I think our ancestors had the right idea.
Well, if people democratically choose to be a terrorist state then it at least substantially removes the argument that the "average guy on the street" isn't responsible for what the tyrants who lead the nation are doing.
The people have chosen what type of state they want.
They'll now also bear responsibility for the actions that that choice may cause the rest of the world to take.
It may not be as bad as all that. They clearly don't have a clue about what to do and how to responsibly run a country. They didn't want to win a majority. The Fatah Party isn't going to participate and bail them out. EU and US are threatening cutting off aid, etc. They may self-destruct before our very eyes (Here's hoping, anyway!)
I have really never understood Bush's Palestinian/Israeli policy.
bingo.
Yeah, well, now the nuts
in Afghanistan, Iraq
and everywhere else
will keep on fighting
until they get a country
they can call their own . . .
I think that's it. At least a democratically elected bunch of whackjobs makes arguments seeking to find ambiguity much more difficult to make.
We know where the folks stand. Proceed accordingly.
Why should anyone be surprised that Hamas won the Pali election? I really don't regard this as the Bush policy being in tatters. Fatah has been corrupt and as far as the US shoudl be concerned PHONY. The Pali-Israeli situation is not the same as the Iraqi situation. Where Bush policy went wrong (has been since he got into office) is to have any hope that Fatah would be at least half way honest. At least Hamas hates us openly.
The Hamas majority paves the way for Netanyahu to reclaim the leadership role in the Israeli government.
Yeah. Right. And after
Gaza was handed over,
some Freepers believed
the next rockets or
terror attacks out of there
would cause Israel
to destroy Gaza.
Hasn't happened. Never will.
There are power blocs
high within the West
that support the mad Arabs.
They will protect them.
History is repeating itself in the ME. Just like the Nazis took over Germany by means of parliamentary elections, so Hamas has taken over the PA. 'Democracy at work' as an excuse does not cut the mustard. So be it. Let the Palis stew in their own juices. Stop of all foreign aid to the PA now. Israel ought to forbid any Palis to travel or work in Israel. Lock down the borders.
This doesn't put Bush's policy in tatters, it just clarifies it. If the Palestinians want war...
Bush refused to deal with Arafat, the same will apply to Hamas. Now he has a clear path to cut off money to the Palestinians, and reinforce Israel.
Europe can go to hell, they were dead wrong about the "peaceful" Palestinian people.
The Palestinians might have the mechanics of Democracy down pat, but the consequences part of it hasn't sunk in.
Very simply put and very correct.
Another issue that bothers me is the whole idea of an "illegal" war; it's completely foreign to me. There is no such thing as an illegal war, and any law that makes one such should be roundly ignored, IM not so HO.
As you said, people into conflict for a reason (and generally a very substantial reason) and until that reason is removed, there isn't going to be a lasting peace. To make a war illegal is just counterintuitive. There are right and wrong conflicts, certainly. But illegal? There is no set equation; there is only the contemplation of a specific problem at a particular time. And once entered, war should be treated as war--not some legal obstacle course.
I think any "terrorist" attack by Hamas can now be considered an act of war.
This is the result of decades of failed political policy in the mid-east, starting with the Balfour Agreement, continuing through the post war relocation of hundreds of thousands Jews from Europe and the Soviet Union (with the guilt brought on by our failed response to Hitler's Final Solution) to the Six-Day War, through the PLO killing Jews at the Munich Olympics, Jimmy Carter's terrible handling of the Iranian hostage crises, Reagan's response to the Marine barrack bombing, Clinton's failures regarding the first WTC bombing and the "USS Cole" incident.....What did people expect?
With Hamas being democratically elected, at least the true nature of the beast is unveiled, no more Arafat falsely claiming he wants peaceful co-existence.
The descendents of Abraham's illegitimate child will never allow Israel to exist; the Mohammedan despises God's Chosen People, they are stuck in an eternal sibling rivalry, adolescent even, and the West has unwittingly helped to set the battlefield for a violent family confrontation.
Unfortunately, the Chosen People may well be destroyed unless the West (ie. the Eagle, the Lion, the Wallabee, with help from the Rising Sun) intervenes---(while keeping an eye on the Panda Bear)
When that happens, then the draft will be re-instated. I hope I'm wrong, but there is too much oil in the mid-east, and too many idiots willing to commit suicide for 72 virgins.
IMO.
RD
The fact that the concept of "limited war" rules the day, makes it easier to get into wars.
Look at Korea, Vietnam, Iraq...
I think if anything it has put Hamas in the hard place.
Hamas is now fully dependent on others to run their government. If they go violent, then they have failed by their own actions.
I expect them to fail because their structure does not allow for any other way but failure.
Mars. We give the Islamofacists Mars. Put them at the bottom of a gravity well with 10th Century technology, and they will have all killed each other over who's great-grandfather killed who inside of a hundred years.
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