Hamas – A Case of Policy Hypocrisy

For years, the United States government has been saying “we need more democracy in this world”. Heeding the call in January, the Palestinian people took to the poles and performed their democratic duty – they voted.

The US government should have been jumping for joy. President Bush should have stood on an over-sized army vessel with the banner “Mission Accomplished” behind him.

The exact opposite happened. Hamas won the legitimate, democratic election. The problem: the Palestinians voted for the wrong guys, or so says the US.

Instead of congratulating the Palestinians and their new government, the US quickly condemned them. They moved to block all revenue to the Palestinian authority – effectively starving them of almost all their income. They can’t pay the police, teachers, doctors, nurses – anybody who works for the government which is Palestine’s largest employer.

On one hand, the US has a point. Hamas has not been friendly to the West and incredibly hates Israel. On the other, much larger hand, the US is sending the wrong message to the non-democratic world and to the Middle East specifically. Basically, message goes something like this: we want you to be democratic, as long as you vote for the guys we like.

Sorry Bush and friends, but the world doesn’t work that way. You can either have democracy OR governments you like. You can’t always have both. It’s the rules of the game and the US government is trying to break them. If you want to democratize the world, you’ll need to put up with some unfriendly governments – if it’s the will of the people.

It leaves many wondering whether the US is truly committed to spreading democracy or not. This isn’t the “good old days” when the US could waltz into a country, take out its government, and install a new, friendlier version. The whole world is watching and their opinion matters. If it doesn’t, then why don’t we just go back to the “good old days” and save ourselves the hypocrisy?