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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paret who wrote (10722)	12/16/2005 6:07:32 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 32591

At least the US Congress makes sense: Last update - 22:48 16/12/2005 U.S.: PA may lose aid if Hamas runs in elections By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed a resolution that conditioned future financial aid to the Palestinian Authority on the exclusion of Hamas from the upcoming parliamentary elections next month. According to the resolution, any Hamas participation in the government of the PA "will potentially undermine the ability of the United States to have a constructive relationship with or provide further assistance to the Palestinian Authority." In the resolution, passed on a 397-17 vote, the House also urged PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to declare before the election that he intends to dismantle terrorist organizations. Advertisement The House resolution, which has more than 150 sponsors, says the participation of Hamas in the PA government "will inevitably raise serious questions for the United States about the commitment of the Palestinian Authority and its leadership to making peace with Israel. The State Department lists Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas' prospects to win more seats may have improved after a sweeping victory in the local elections in the West Bank on Thursday. In another blow to Abbas, young activists in the ruling Fatah party broke away Wednesday to form their own faction. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday U.S. policy on Hamas was unchanged. "It's a terrorist organization; we don't deal with it. " Rep. Tom Lantos, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said Hamas should be disqualified on two grounds - as a terrorist group and as a group that denies Israel's right to exist. "There is a third reason as well," he said. "Hamas is a fundamentalist, jihadist organization that has nothing but contempt for democracy, though it is more than happy to exploit democracy for its own nefarious ends". Rep. Ileanna Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House International Relations subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, said the resolution takes a united stand "against the attempts of the murderous Islamic extremist organizations to hijack the elections." She said Hamas participating in the voting "will destroy any hope for peace and security for Israel." President George W. Bush has said Hamas "terrorists are preparing a future of oppression and misery." Ros-Lehtinen said a mistake already was made this summer when Lebanon allowed Hezbollah, another militant Islamic group, to participate in elections despite its refusal to disarm and dismantle its infrastructure in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. The United States continues to deal with the Lebanese government even though Hezbollah has a seat in its Cabinet.

To: paret who wrote (10722)	12/16/2005 9:25:49 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Israeli officials have warned that the peace process will end if the group becomes the dominant Palestinian political party. And well they should, if Hamas continues to perpetuate its aggressive bluster against Israel. But now that they've been elected, they have to deliver the "goods" to their people, or face tremendous loss of face. If unable to deliver less corruption, better economic conditions, as well as the political landscape that facilitates the peace process and a Palestinian state, people will vote for someone who CAN deliver those promises. I believe the Palestinian government is just as susceptible to votes of "no confidence" as Israel's government is. We'll have to wait and see what come up in the next year. But the bottom line is that Israel has no logical obligation to conduct peace talks with a government that seeks it's total destruction as it's political platform. Hawk