Bush Defends His Goal of Spreading Democracy to the Mideast - New York Times

Bush Defends His Goal of Spreading Democracy to the Mideast - New York Times

What part of We are NOT buying your BULLSHIT, do you NOT Understand?

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — The sweeping victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections threw President Bush and his aides on the defensive on Thursday, complicating the administration's policy of trying to promote democracy as an antidote to the spread of terrorism. (There are no terrorists, but you are going to create MANY)

Reacting uneasily to the Hamas triumph, Mr. Bush said the results spoke to the failures of President Mahmoud Abbas and the "old guard" of his Fatah faction to root out corruption and mismanagement, not to any flaws in the administration's policy of advocating democracy.

"There was a peaceful process as people went to the polls, and that's positive," Mr. Bush said. "But what's also positive is that it's a wake-up call to the leadership. Obviously people were not happy with the status quo. The people are demanding honest government. The people want services."

But without criticizing the Palestinian people for choosing leaders who advocate the destruction of Israel, a tenet at the very core of Hamas's creed, he said that the United States would never tolerate such a policy. In the same fashion, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted that Palestinians want a negotiated peace settlement with Israel, according to opinion polls, but she repeated that this goal remained possible only if Hamas renounced its violent ways.

Mr. Bush joined a chorus of world leaders — including the so-called quartet of principal parties in the moribund peace process — in calling on Hamas to renounce terrorism, disarm its militias and recognize the legitimacy of Israel now that it has won the elections. But his tone was less confrontational than invitational — in effect, inviting Hamas to embrace reconciliation.

For now, Mr. Bush called on President Abbas to stay in office and steer the Palestinian government on a moderate course.

(Here's the little dictator telling PALESTINIANS how to run their country. tutut- NOT smart.)

The Hamas victory was the fifth case recently of militants' winning significant gains through elections. They included the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hezbollah in Lebanon, a radical president in Iran, and Shiites backed by militias in Iraq.

As these elections unfolded, there has been increasing criticism in some quarters — notably among the self-described "realists" in foreign policy, many of them veterans of past Republican administrations — that President Bush has naively pushed for democracy in countries without the civil society components to support it.

"The Hamas victory is a disillusioning result showing that democracy and American interests don't always coincide," said Nikolas K. Gvosdev, a Russia expert who is editor of The National Interest, a publication that echoes with debate about this subject.

"Given the weakness of Palestinian society, people should not have been surprised that this was the outcome," Mr. Gvosdev added.

Other critics, too, including some Arab leaders, say that the United States failed to do its part to shore up Mr. Abbas by wringing more concessions from Israel and doing more to revitalize the economy in the West Bank and Gaza.

A senior State Department official said recently that the Bush administration, five years ago, inherited what he called the old model: that economic growth, the development of a middle class and the spread of education needed to come before democracy could take hold in troubled countries.

"But that's a story that we can no longer accept," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of rules prohibiting him from publicly explaining administration policy.

"First of all you're not getting economic growth in a lot of places. We now understand that getting greater political openness and democracy in the Arab world is essential to our security." (No, you're not getting the BIG picture)

The problem faced by the administration on Thursday was how to coax Hamas into the mainstream.

The West has more tools than mere diplomatic pressure to influence Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. The authority, described by many as nearly bankrupt, has begun tapping its trust funds to pay daily expenses and is running a deficit that Israel calculates at more than $700 million a year.

Europe and the United States provide most of the $1 billion in foreign assistance that goes to the Palestinians. But some of this money has already been cut back in protest of the Palestinian leadership's raising salaries and welfare benefits, which make up a major part of the Palestinian economy.

American and European officials said they could not imagine outside aid continuing if there is a Hamas-led government that has not renounced violence or Hamas's commitment to destroying Israel.

Many of the reactions from Western diplomats took on dramatic tones, characterizing Hamas as now facing a trial of identity.

"What Hamas faces is not only a political but an existential dilemma," said Terje Roed-Larsen, the former United Nations envoy in the Middle East, in an interview. "They have built their identity on opposing elections and the institutions of the Palestinian Authority. Now they're the masters of the institutions they have been against."

Diplomats involved in the Middle East peace process known as the road map, the document that calls for reciprocal steps between Israelis and Palestinians toward creation of a Palestinian state, say that any immediate chances of reviving the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue are daunting if not impossible.

The immediate question before the administration is not whether negotiations can be revived but whether Israel can be encouraged to carry out more unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank.

As for dealing with Hamas, the Europeans are considered likely to see the problem differently, many diplomats say. Regarding both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Europeans have called for the West to use the template of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, when dealing with them.

In other words, they say, talking to Hamas may help coax it toward eventual partnership in a peace negotiation. The problem, many diplomats and experts say, is that no one even pretends that there are truly separate wings of Hamas. Its armed forces and its political leaders are married to each other inextricably.

Do a little research on General Mahmoud Ahmad, and Pakistani ISI