Secretary of State "Surprised" by Hamas Showing
by Rabbi David Eidensohn
The recent landslide of support for Hamas, giving it control of the Palestinian government, was not anticipated by the State Department. "I've asked why nobody saw it coming," Ms. Rice said, speaking of her own staff. "It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse." (New York Times front page January 30, 2006)
The State Department has many experts and resources, and spends a lot of time working on the Palestinian issue. How could it be so far removed from the realities that Hamas would win resoundingly in the recent Palestinian election?
One reason is that the State Department has always fawned on the Arabs, and never looked at them critically. The State Department didn't want to face that an Arab state was a terrorist problem. President Bush and the State Department had invested heavily in its support for the Palestinians, and had brushed off Israeli concerns that this could be detrimental. Now the Israelis are shown to be right, and the Bush administration wrong.
Also, to rebuke Hamas and refrain from supporting them might defy the cozy relationship between State and the Saudi Arabian money, the haven and heaven where retired State Department officials go when they retire and need some big bucks. When the terrorists bombed us on September 11, the first thing the State Department did was to quickly gather all of the Saudi Arabians, many of them related to the chief terrorist, and hustle them out of the country before the FBI could get to them. State is very warm to the Arabs and their oil and very cool to Israel. Therefore, we can never expect State to work for America when by so doing they may antagonize the Arabs. The Arabs don't like it when America criticizes Hamas. After all, Hamas is simply doing what all Arab governments believe in, trying to destroy Israel, and to demonize the non-Islam West.
The New York Time's article mentions another problem. Not only was State "surprised," but also, the victory of Hamas was a rebuke to the basic tenet of this administration. President Bush and State believe that the solution for terrorism and hate is democracy. If everyone can vote, they will become civilized. This is ludicrous and always was, but it is the central tenet of the Bush presidency. We must spread the teachings of American liberalism, and as soon as Western freedoms take root, hate will dissipate. Hate will not dissipate from people voting. People vote what they believe. The Arabs believe in destroying Israel and in fighting non-Moslems. Increasingly, they are becoming more and more rigid in their beliefs, and accepting violence to gain control of the world. Anyone who does not realize that is either extremely dense or a member of the Bush administration.
Western countries give the Palestinians a billion dollars a year in aid. Will they continue to fund a country that believes in terror, sends its sons and daughters to commit suicide and then honors them, where the majority vote for declared terrorists? Someone with common sense would refuse to send money to such people. But the Bush administration and State are far too clever to do normal things. So far, it has decided to keep pouring the money in, so Hamas can eventually invite Iran into Palestinian territory, and so Moslem politicians can teach people to hate America. So brilliant is the State Department. Is there any wonder that they were "surprised"?
Across the Sinai Desert is Egypt. Egypt has a huge army, and excellent American tanks and weapons. It has no need for such a large army, unless it is preparing to make another war with Israel, something it promised not to do in order to regain the Sinai Peninsula. Now that Hamas has won over a government next to Egypt, the spirit of hating will surely spiral out of control in Egypt, until eventually, Hamas or the fanatic Egyptian Brotherhood will take over the government there. Do you think that will stop America from pouring more money, more tanks, more killing capacity into Egypt?
If not, I would be surprised.