Wednesday, May 17, 2006

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?

18 Comments:

At 11:30 PM, Blogger CaptnSaj said...

In case you're wondering: Somebody left 3 comments on this posting that were flat out solicitations so I deleted them.

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At 4:05 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

The US call for democracy is also a call for honesty.

If a group of people to choose to make a statement by selecting a leadership that has professed its opposition to the US, then the US receives an honest message that the constituency of that people is likely to be against the US as well. Ergo if you vote for someone against the US, its not a big stretch for extension for people to think you are against the US.

So yes, by definition it is somewhat hypocritical, but it is more so the US stating OK, if you vote to be against us, the US, then we do not have to support you and your elected representatives. There is nothing that states that the US or Israel should support a leadership that openly states its opposition to both.

So the Palestinian people have learned a lesson about democracy, the lesson is that if you vote for someone, the world will know. The world will react to the voice of the Palestinian people as their self interests align or do not align with the Palestinian people and their leaders.

This is different to non-democratic governments where the world may be for the people but against the leadership or possibly for the leadership and against the people. If the Palestinian people feel their best interests are represented best by Hamas, then that is their choice and the world can now see their choice and take appropriate actions to serve their own best interests.

I guess the underlying moral here is 'Each unto their own'. This does not mean each unto their own country, but each person unto their own personal interest.

Sometimes the world will disagree with the choice of the people in one region or country, and sometimes the world will agree. The democratic choice is a luxury that those people must earn themselves. Maintaining that luxury is dependent on their ability to hold onto their luxury and possess it. This requires that they must take care of their own people and find their place in the world either in cooperation or in opposition to the world.

No one begrudges the Palestinian people their choice within the US, we can now see where their choices align the Palestinian people. This alignment may sway from one group to the next over the years and decades and centuries to come.

Time will tell.

 
At 11:09 PM, Blogger Jon said...

Hamas is and always will be a terrorist organization and no matter if they are elected in a Democratic election they will never be recognized by the US as a legitimate government.

 
At 8:27 PM, Blogger Gelo said...

That is the whole trouble with US foreign policy. Like you I am not anti-American. But their government's penchant as "policeman" of the world and "exporter" of democracy is total hipo-crazy. I am sorry for all the American soldiers killed in useless wars. The way they treat Hamas is only isolating the US from the truly democratic world.

 
At 12:40 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

"message goes something like this: we want you to be democratic, as long as you vote for the guys we like."

No, doesn't have to be someone we like, just not a major terrorist organization. Makes sense,'eh?

 
At 2:17 PM, Blogger EKENYERENGOZI Michael Chima said...

If you really know the erroneous psyche of Hamas, you would not be surprised with the incorrigible nature of their terrorist culture.

Hamas won the elections by holding the intimidated masses at gun-point.

 
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At 10:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The El Shrubbo of Harris and Blackwell is about as interested in democracy as I am in seeing more pics of Britney Spears sans panties.

The titans of intellectual prowess who scream "Tur!!!" fail to take history into account, as always. Many legitimate political movements of today are organizations previously thought of as "turrists" who got tamed by the vote. But we really don't want to find a way to defuse any tensions in the Mideast now, do we?

 
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