Posted on 01/28/2006 12:31:12 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Free elections, we have been told ad nauseam, lead to a healthy body politic called democracy. Unfortunately for those who see the cliché as an article of faith, free elections and democracy are not synonymous. Hitler won a free election - and went on to build the world's most formidable war machine in history's blink of an eye.
A free election recently propelled Evo Morales, a man whose idols are Fidel Castro and his Venezuelan look-alike Hugo Chavez, and who represents the coca growers of Bolivia, to the presidency of his country. Freely elected Chavez is spreading his oil-at-almost-$70-a-barrel money in the world's fifth largest oil exporter (and fourth largest U.S. oil supplier) to push South and Central America and Mexico to a blend of neo-Marxism and state capitalism. The far left's candidate for the Mexican presidency has now pulled abreast of the other two challengers.
Now Hugo Chavez is off on a buying toot in Spain and Brazil for military equipment that goes way beyond legitimate defense needs. Russian arms salesmen are also on the scene. This week, tens of thousands from all over Latin America and Europe converged on Caracas for the World Social Forum, an anti-U.S. imperialism and anti-global capitalism jamboree timed to coincide with the market-friendly World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In Algeria in 1991, a free election produced an impressive majority for Islamist extremists. Unwilling to accept the result, the army canceled the results and went on ruling the country. A bloody, ten-year civil war followed. The toll: 100,000 massacred.
If the results of Pakistan's last "free" election had not been partly pre-cooked, a coalition of six politico-religious extremist Islamist parties that see Osama Bin Laden as a freedom fighter would have taken over the Muslim world's only nuclear power. As it was, they took over two of the country's four provinces - the Northwest Frontier Province and Baluchistan - and won 25% of the seats in the federal assembly. The result President Pervez Musharraf planned was designed to give the religious zealots enough weight to fend off U.S. pressure for freedom of movement against Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal border areas.
Enter Hamas, a politico-military party dedicated to the destruction of Israel, which swept into power in a free election that cleaned the less radical Fatah's clock, and assumed absolute power not only in Gaza but also throughout a West Bank that is also populated by 340,000 Israelis (up from 240,000 since the turn of the century) in 140 settlements. Happy days are here again for Iran's surrogates on Israel's frontiers - Hezbollah to the north, Hamas and its heavily armed, black-uniformed, ski-masked militia to the south and east.
The Palestinian elections, that enjoyed the White House's good housekeeping seal of approval, have given a formal burial to the Bush Administration's roadmap for a "contiguous and viable" Palestinian state. It was stillborn, but the powers that be acted out the peace process pantomime pretending that it was only moribund.
Lenin said "violence is the midwife of history" and Hamas, like scores of other revolutionary movements in the 20th century, terrorized its way to power with no less than 60 suicide bombings.
Israel and the U.S. have made clear they will not deal with Hamas unless it recognizes Israel's right to exist, disarms its militia and renounces what they call "terrorism." Hamas, like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, sees Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization as history's good guys on the side of liberation from "Zionist oppression" and "American imperialism."
Hamas' victory in a genuinely free election seals the permanence and further consolidation of the 420-mile, $2 billion physical barrier between Israel and the West Bank. This now permanent frontier protects the largest Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory and annexes about 12% of its land. Any prospect of a Palestinian capital in Arab East Jerusalem is gone for good.
The silver lining brigade sees Hamas becoming more moderate. Or do the optimists mean less extremist? The glass-is-half-full-and-filling school says now that Hamas is part of the democratic game, they will have to play by democratic rules. Just like Chavez in Venezuela or Morales in Bolivia - or long ago, when Castro took over in Cuba in 1959, or Pol Pot in Cambodia in 1975 - they will be "moderate agrarian reformers."
Wasn't it Churchill who said that "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others"?
This is good except isreal should've annexed ALL the west bank and gaza too.
This guy is a stooge. Hitler was democratically elected and the German people paid the price for electing a madman. Lesson learned.
As Mr. NEwt said last night on H&C, if they want to act like Nazis, we will be forced to treat them as Nazis.
Israel would make mince meat of Hamas if provoked.
Quite to the contrary, I see the roadmap to peace right on track and ahead of schedule. At some point, the world body would realize that Palestinians do not want peace with Israel. It may have taken years for the deaf, dumb, blind apologists to see this. And after many years of broken promises by the Palestinians, Israel would have had a much harder time getting things under control. Now there is no confusion on the intent of the Palestinians and Israel can do what needed to be done for decades: Spank the Palestinians until they cry "Uncle Bibi" and keep spanking them so they know there is more where that came from, and spank any country that comes to the Palestinians aid. Arab culture only understands violence. They do not understand civility and peace. Peace will only come through enough violence rained upon the Palestinians to make them understand that their population can be wiped off the face of the earth.
The Left will have won a truly pyrric victory if it succeeds in dissing democracy and reaffirming realpolitik.
One thing about these gosh-darn impulsive palis is you never have to wait very long for a provocation.
We are going to have tomake an example of of the Iranian leader. It's the only way.
What de Borchgrave neglected to mention is that one election does not a democracy make. Sure, Hitler was elected, Chavez too... but both then forfeited legitimacy by subverting the process by which they took power: "One man, one vote, once."
The great fact about Democracy, beyond which all else pales, is that: Voters rule. By definition, "democracy" is that system of government by which, at specified intervals, a certified body of constituents may peacefully choose to CHANGE THEIR RULERS. To cite Chavez and Hitler, nevermind Stalin or any garden-variety Communist thug from Castro to Kim Jong-il, as ruling "democratically", is so delusive as to bear on one's commentariat credentials.
Notice we do not debate the contemptible Hamas on matters of (terrorist) policy or (Islamic fundamentalist) principle. War with them if we must, otherwise who cares? But we must and do care about whether, after this, there will be ANOTHER constitutionally sanctioned, honestly conducted, popular referendum on the PA's Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches as previously constituted. Fatah's virulent reaction is indicative... quite possibly, having won legitimately once, Hamas like Mubarak's Egypt will just say "never again." In that case, Palestinians (so-called) will have to decide where to plant their IEDs this time.
Oh, well. Some years from now, maybe they'll all be subsumed by the New Mahdi in his enlightened Caliphate, trolling for nubile nine-year olds in emulation of the Prophet. Or maybe they'll grow up... don't count on it.
Peoples really do have fundamentally different interests and often act as a group, not as individuals. So, in some situations, military action against elected governments and their civilian citizenry is entirely justified.
This only proves what PM Sharon knew -- there is no partner for peace. Disengagement and borders surrounded by a fence is the only security Israel can hope for.
One can only hope that the world and leftist Israelis realize that now too.
Palestinians can experience the consequences of their support for a terrorist organization. No money or support to terrorists. Let Fatah and Hamas shoot it out. Hamas allying with Iran/Syria/Hezbollah only draws the lines much clearer.
I keep reading that Hitler was democratically elected but I think he obtained the most votes but not a majority. He leveraged his minority position into a dictatorship. I think Chavas has done away with some democratic institutions also. Look for Hamas to do the same.
The world has not allowed Israel to actually defeat the Palestinians. They always come in with a peace plan that freezes events where they are. If we had not totally defeated Germany and Japan, we would still have a state of war today. Let the Jews defeat PA. totally until the Palestinians have to beg for an end of the war. Then let the Jews administer the peace.
Then when they realize what happens when you throw one too many stones at a lion, you will finally have peace.
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