Posted on 02/01/2006 10:09:49 AM PST by SirLinksalot
Buchanan defends foreign aid – for Hamas
--------------------------------------------------------
Posted: February 1, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 Creators Syndicate Inc.
Ever since President Bush, sometime after 9-11, converted to neoconservatism, his Middle East policy has suffered from the triple defects of that subspecies of the Right: hubris, ideology and immaturity.
Neoconservatives see the world as they wish it to be, not as it is. Like teenagers, they act on impulse and rail against the counsel of experience. "Often clever, never wise," Russell Kirk said of the breed.
Repeatedly, Bush was warned by traditional conservatives that to send a U.S. army to occupy Baghdad would engender Arab rage and Islamic terror. Heeding the "cakewalk" crowd, he refused to listen. Three years later, we are trying to extricate a U.S. army from Iraq with the least possible damage to U.S. security interests.
Prodded again by neoconservatives, Bush declared our true goal had always been to democratize Iraq and the entire Islamic world. His second Inaugural resonated less of Reagan than of Rousseau:
So, it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
To advance the end of "tyranny in our world," Bush began to call for elections across the Middle East. Again, he and Condi were warned that if these people were allowed to vote their convictions, they might just vote to throw us out and throw the Israelis into the sea.
Now that elections have been held, what do the returns show?
Propelled into or toward power have been Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, pro-Iranian Shiite zealots in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and Hamas in Gaza and on the West Bank.
Now, Condi, who denounced Bush's predecessors back to FDR for supporting dictators while preaching democracy in the Middle East, appears about to engage in a bit of hypocrisy of her own.
After insisting Hamas be included in the elections, Condi, stunned by the results and under pressure from Israel, has declared we will cut all aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas takes over the government, as Hamas was elected to do.
Bush agrees. Unless Hamas surrenders its weapons, abandons all armed resistance and recognizes Israel's right to exist, we will not give 10 cents to a Palestinian Authority that has Hamas as its head. Rice is said to be pressuring Europe to do the same. Unless Hamas remakes itself into a Mideast version of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Dr. King, we terminate aid.
Before adopting this knee-jerk reaction to an election we insisted go ahead, one trusts the president, this once, will think it through.
What is likely to happen if we proceed on such a course?
If we and the Europeans cut off aid, and Israel refuses to remit to the Palestinians the taxes they collect, the Palestinians will be put through hell for voting the wrong way. The Arabs will call us hypocrites who believe in elections only if they produce the results we demand.
And who could say they are wrong?
What will Hamas do? They are not going to disarm in the face of an Israeli military that has been killing Palestinians – collateral damage, of course – at four times the rate that Palestinians have been killing Israelis. They are not going to give up their trump card and recognize Israel's right to exist before they get a Palestinian state.
What will Hamas do? Hamas will accept the cut-off of aid, seek money from the Saudis and Iranians, do their best to keep the Palestinian people fed, clothed, housed and educated, and sacrifice for their people. And Hamas will fail. And when they fail, whom do we think will be blamed? When the Palestinian people have been broken because they voted the wrong way, whom do we think they will hate?
Let me propose another course. Put Hamas on probation.
For almost a year, Hamas has held to a truce with Israel and not engaged in attacks. Let America and Europe send word that if the truce holds, if Hamas does not attack Israeli civilians, if Hamas show its first concern is, as it claims, bettering the life of the Palestinian people, we will let the aid flow. But if Hamas reignites the war, we will not finance the war. We will terminate the aid.
Make Hamas responsible for continuing the aid. And make Hamas responsible for terminating it, if it comes to that.
Understandably, the Israelis are close to hysterical over the landslide for Hamas and are on a diplomatic campaign to have all donors end all aid to a Palestinian Authority dominated by Hamas.
But that is not in our interests. It is not even in Israel's interest. For it has been Israel's behavior, and uncritical U.S. support for that behavior, that produced this victory for Hamas. To continue on that road is to arrive at, literally, a dead end.
Bush has unleashed a revolution in the Middle East, and it is everywhere bringing to power Islamic fundamentalists. Either we deal with them, or fight them or get out of the Middle East.
Wow, a skinhead with rheumatoid arthritis.
Exactly. Gerry the terrorist Adams scoured Boston for naive Irishmen who gave him money that he then passed onto the IRA to kill the Scotch Irish in Northern Ireland.
I judge men by their actions. Pat time and time again, in article after article criticizes the state of Israel and continues to pass on the myth of Jewish control of Washington. I say that makes him suspect.
Why not dwell on how real control is taken in Washington by the Saudis?
"Testing the LIMITS of Freedom of Speech- by pushing its' boundaries"
I just clicked your name. It seems that you have learnt your first (and last lesson) regarding the boundaries of free speech on FreeRepublic, that is:
Being even slightly critical of Israel, showing even the smallest support for Pat Buchanan will cause you trouble. The correct response is that we must "kill all the Arabs" (the question does not matter).
Not shocking but liberal-leftist sentiments don't belong on CONSERVATIVE sites.
Sure thing Iran doensn't pose a direct threat. Except that it's cronies, proxies and other connected TERRORISTS do.
It's isolationist idiots like that who would LOVE for the US to get hit in the hopes that the US would go into a shell ala mid-1930s US.
We don't support Nazis over here at FR.
There was no excuse for funding the Palestinians before Hamas won the election and there is no excuse now.
We should terminate all aid to Israel, too. Maybe without us funding both sides, they'll finally arrive at an agreement. Not that it matters much.
Somehow I missed the meeting where it was decided that conservatives needed to favor military action against Iran. My view is that Iran poses a far greater threat to Israel than to us, and, if it looks like Iran is indeed a threat, Israel will take action. Which is fine by me. I think it would be a nice change of pace for allies to fight and die for the US for a change, rather than the other way around.
Maybe that's why Pat is so pissed. I'm sure the day of 911, he had a wet dream about his role in moving the US into isolationism and building a business around the creation of cloth Stars of David.
Yes, stop all aid to Israel. Then the rabid anti-Israelites can stop pissing their pants over money sent to allies, despite the fact we send aid to Egypt and North Korea.
Fine with me, as long as Pat and friends don't start beating the anti-Israel drums just because they don't like the casualty count in Tehran.
I think so.
And Thorin is Pat Buchanan's brother or something.
Talking to him (or Pat) is like talking with a brick wall and usually not worth it unless you are in it for laughs.
Does you screen name have anything to do with Coeur d'Alene, Idaho? I knew some devout Buchanonites from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho years ago. They seemed to be great conservatives at the time, but always had some negative remark to say about the Jews. It was my first clue that Buchanon might be a bit like that himself.
In other words, we either deal with them, fight them, or ignore them. He had to think aloud for that entire column to arrive at this conclusion?
I just suspect, and of course cannot prove, that when criticizing of Israel is constant and incessant, that it is cloaking a real sentiment of anti-Jewishness. Even if that is not the case, why would anyone deny Israel the right to defend itself against terrorists? I just don’t buy into this nonsense of the Palestinians (and Moslems in general) being the victims of anything but their own foolish hatred and inferiority complex with the West. Maybe if they rejected barbarism their lot could be improved. I have no problem cutting aid to Israel, but we better terminated aid to North Korea and Egypt first.
Another great article by Pat B.
A voice of sanity.
Cour de Leon is French for "heart of a lion." There is a famous figure who went by the name, first name of Richard. People used to know about him, but he is no longer a politically correct hero, having been an active participant in the Third Crusade and all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.