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February 15, 2006
Commitment to Democracy
I'm in Denver at the moment, don't ask how or why. But I am exceedingly fond of Denver so it's not entirely a bad thing. Having an interview later today, I decided to get up early and treat myself to a nice breakfast. Moe's Broadway bagels, in case you're wondering, has the best bagels in Denver. So I pop in, wink at the cashier pay too much for a bagel and sit down with whatever newspaper leavings I can find and eat.
Politics has been suspiciously absent from this blog for a while but has been on my mind. I encountered an article that I can only call disturbing.
Headline Abbas acts to weaken Hamas rule. Ummm, why? Were they not democratically elected! The content is worse.
In the countdown to the Hamas takeover, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has broadened his already considerable authority, taking control of the state media and naming allies to top government jobs to make it harder for the Islamic militants to rule.
Excuse me, did we say Islamic militants, we meant democratically elected Islamic militants. This was not a weird sham of an election like Iran or a half practice run election like Egypt, no this was a real 
election. And we didn't like who won. I don't like them either, but one of the first acts of self-determination is always one of defiance, ask any teenager. Palestinians, regardless of your stance on Israel-Palestine, have had a crummy lot for some time now. What happens to the ruling party in a functioning democracy when the people have a bad time (not to mention when their rulers are incompetent and corrupt)? They don't get re-elected. Remember Carter? Yeah, sorta like that. So now Abbas has decided to take a page out of Putin's book, surely something anyone whose primary agenda in the Middle East is democracy promotion should virulently condemn.
Alas, the article continues-
Israel and the United States are reportedly considering ways to bring down a Hamas government, mainly through an economic squeeze that would prompt Palestinians to clamor for the return of Fattah.
Ok, so we're actively trying to game a democratic system to get whom we want elected. Clearly the US commitment to Democracy only goes skin deep. Cutting off aid is fine, I see no reason that's obligatory, but economic sanctions? Because the people of Palestine didn't elect who we wanted? It's just so ridiculously petty. Let me preempt this counter argument - They've got a militia. I would like to see that disbanded, I think that's the right thing to do and I think it's important. But this simply isn't the way to do it. Israel can justly walk away from the peace talks and go forth with unilateral withdrawal, the world justly turn it's back on Palestine. Those are reasonable consequences of Hamas' platform. But the condescension required in the response of 'Oh, I'm sorry you don't know how to choose' is baffling. Lauding Democracy in the Arab world is all well and good but it's worthless unless you put your faith in the electorate. That is, after all, what faith in Democracy comes down to.
Posted by conryf at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)