Posted on 07/18/2006 7:51:35 AM PDT by pickrell
Recently newspaper columnist George Will wrote "...But elections have transformed Hamas into the government of the Palestinian territories, and elections have turned Hezbollah into a significant faction in Lebanon's parliament, from which it operates as a state within the state..."
There is always a tendency among those who cannot differentiate between cause and effect to note that winter is caused by all of those pesky snowflakes...
The elections in the middle east did not 'suddenly and magically infuse' Lebanon and Palestine with extremist voters, any more than the 'No child left behind' program of the Bush Administration suddenly created huge numbers of failing students in the U.S. They both merely forced the truth into the open.
Whenever the light is turned on in the kitchen, however, the media, and tired political writers assume that cockroaches are suddenly created by Sylvania and their pesky light bulbs.
This arab extremism has been around far longer than any hanging chads in Chad.
What we are seeing is merely the inability of the Arab Street, as it is popularly styled, to pretend any longer that they are, in the main, reasonable people who merely wish to have Israel stop oppressing them.
The fiction that because terrorists were not previously "officially" in charge in those countries allowed the New York Times to rail at Israel about "disproportionate attacks" and "failure to negotiate." They likely remarked in the past that Alphonse Capone held no city office in Chicago, and therefore bore no blame for gangland violence.
When a strong wind blows the camoflauge away, it is no longer possible to pretend that there are any "moderate arabs" around to negotiate with. It was a silly hope in the first place, built around masking the distasteful realization that large groups of people cheered when bombs went off.
We didn't want to think that sometimes entire populations get exactly what they wish for, and then complain about the costs to themselves in Israeli, and now American, retaliation.
George Will is simply a disappointment with such a column. He knows better.
That little line must have Boy Assad pissing in his pants. Every other leader Bush has said that about has either had a serious change of heart, is dead, or in prison on trial.
Sorry for the late reply. Your post hit it on the head. To paraphrase you slightly, I believe that we will know when the bottom has dropped out of Assad's world... when the world drops out of Assad's bottom...
Sorry, couldn't resist. :-) I hope you had a good weekend, Lurker. Ron
My weekend starts at 2400 local, but I hope yours was pleasant as well.
Take care.
L
P.S. out of Assads bottom...I'm still chuckling.
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.