LPA:I watched CBS Nightly News tonight, and I was a bit puzzled about what I was hearing. I listened to a report that Hamas, the Palestinian terror network, was running against Fatah, the other Palestinian terror network, that is now a political party, in the Palistinian elections. I remember growing up and hearing about Fatah (I believe the newspeople called it Al-Fatah) back in the day. I remember how the Isreali People had to live under the constant threats of Yassar Arafat and the Fatah movement and the knowledge that any day the Isreali State might cease to exist.
Now I hear that we have just given two million dollars to this very same organization to try to make sure that the election is not swept by Hamas. Bob Shieffer even told me that if Hamas wins, that the US will pull all it's foriegn aid from the infant Palestinian State. That is a hard one for me to swallow.
First of all, aren't we fighting for Democracy a few hundred miles away in Iraq? Secondly, aren't we fighting for the new Iraqi government to support inclusion? That is, the inclusion of the Sunni's along with the Shia and the Kurds? Now isn't that what Democracy is all about? Why are we paying a former terrorist organization two million dollars of American taxpayer money, to help it win over another terrorist organization that istrying to include itself in the political process, when just hundreds of miles away, we are trying to promote what we are trying to prevent in Palestine? Now do you understand why the Arab world and Television stations like Al Jezerah get confused with American political agendas? Am I crazy, or does there seem to be something wrong with the scenario that I just laid out for you?
If we are to support Democracy, we don't just support Democracy when our guy wins. That is the Neo-Con version of Democracy. We support Democracy, irregardless who wins. George Bush has a "best buddy" in Russia that is playing Neo-Con Democracy. King George seems to think that it is OK. As long as the side that we are betting on is winning, than democracy is OK. If the side that we don't want to win, looks like it might win, then doing things that don't turn out to be nessessarily democratic is OK. That is the right wing Republican way of doing things. This is the way that they operate.
We, as American, must ask the President... No, DEMAND THAT THE PRESIDENT supports our democratic ideas as spelled out in our constitution, or resign from office. This is a situation that we, as a country cannot endure. The very image of The United States is at stake. We are a country that was built on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. When we disregrard these principles continuosly, we become something other than the country that our founding fathers wanted us to become. We become a dictorial empire. I do not believe that the people of the United States want to be part of a Dictatorial Empire.
This is just another example of the mismanagement of our government by the far right. The American Liberal Party calls for an investigation into this abuse of foriegn policy. As much as I might side with our Isreali friends, and detest Hamas as an organization, you can't have one set of rules for this situation, and another set of rules for just about the same situation a few hundred miles away with different players. We either promote Democracy or we don't. If we can't promote Democracy in Palestine, we shouldn't try to promote it in Iraq. This is an issue of princple and also a moral issue, and the Bush administration is failing on both counts.