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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (7102)	4/16/2006 7:50:36 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

Whatever services we cease to provide to the Hamas terrorists the immoral and greedy French, Russians and Chinese will soon be providing. The funding we cut was replaced by the Saudis and other tyrants in the region. Be very careful who you think our allies are.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (7102)	4/17/2006 12:51:32 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

Sunday, April 16, 2006 9:38 p.m. EDT Iran to Give Hamas $50 Million in Aid Iran said Sunday it would give the Palestinian Authority $50 million in aid, moving in for the first time with money after the United States and Europe cut off funding to the Hamas-led government. Iran has long had close ties to the Islamic militant movement Hamas and is believed to have given money to the movement in the past _ though the Shiite clerical-led government in Tehran has denied that, saying its support has only been moral. But the new money, if given, would be the first time Iran has provided funds to the Palestinian Authority, the government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that until now was led by the moderate Fatah movement, which carried out peace negotiations with Israel, a policy shunned by Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the aid package Sunday during a conference held in Tehran in support of the Palestinians. Tehran had previously promised to help the Palestinians if other international funds were cut off, but Sunday's remarks were the first time Iran has specified an amount. Mottaki said the pledge was based a long-standing policy to support the Palestinians, Iranian state-television reported. "Cutting the West's financial aid to Palestine should not affect the will of the Palestinian people," he was quoted as saying. Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called for other Islamic nations to give money as he met with Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal. "Muslim governments and nations should provide comprehensive support to the Palestinian government to liberate Jerusalem," Ahmadinejad said. The funding could increase Iran's influence with Hamas at a time when Tehran is also under international pressure to change its ways. The United Nations has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment amid accusations from the United States and Europe that it seeks to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies those claims, saying the aim of its nuclear program is to generate electricity. The United States and the EU have cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority following Hamas' victory in Palestinian legislative elections in January, demanding the group renounce violence and recognize Israel. Hamas has asked Arab countries to provide funds. But despite promises to give the authority $55 million a month, Arab nations have not given any money since the Hamas election victory. Washington has been pressuring Arab countries not to give money, and some governments are wary of seeing the Hamas government succeed, fearing it will inspire other militant groups. Up until the Hamas victory, the Palestinian Authority has received about $1 billion in aid from the West. Israel also has halted the monthly transfer of about $55 million in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. The Palestinian government already is two weeks late in paying March salaries for its 140,000 employees, and it is unclear when it will have the needed funds. The Palestinian Authority is the largest employer in the West Bank and Gaza, sustaining about one-third of the population. Mashaal reiterated the group's refusal to meet the West's demands, saying Saturday in Tehran that his government would "never recognize Israel." © 2006 Associated Press.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (7102)	4/24/2006 12:06:21 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

A terrorist government, elected or not, deserves no support from America. Sunday, April 23, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT Twenty-nine-year-old David Shaulov was among the nine murdered victims of Monday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. His wife, Varda, is nine months pregnant with their third child. Another victim, Marcelle Cohen, 75, a French citizen, was on a Passover visit with Israeli relatives. Then there was Binyamin Hafuta, 47, the security guard who blocked suicide bomber Sami Hamad from entering the crowded falafel restaurant that was the target, thereby saving possibly a dozen lives. The bombing was only the third such attack this year. That's a testament to Israel's counterterrorism prowess and to its security barrier, which the U.N.'s International Court of Justice has deemed "contrary to international law." Remind us of that ruling the next time Secretary-General Kofi Annan speaks of the U.N.'s "unique legitimacy." The relative paucity of terrorist atrocities is not a testament to Palestinian restraint. The Hamas-led government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh defended the bombing as a legitimate act of Palestinian self-defense. When President Mahmoud Abbas described the bombing as "despicable," masked Palestinian gunmen held a press conference in Gaza to demand his apology. We often speak of terrorist "regimes," governments such as those in Syria and Iran that harbor terrorist groups and sponsor terrorist acts. Implicit in the term is a distinction between ruler and ruled, oppressor and oppressed. But Mr. Haniyeh's government took office following a competitive election; the Hamas Charter, which calls on its members to "obliterate" Israel and (quoting the Koran) "fight the Jews and kill them," is well known to Palestinians. So it is not just the Palestinian leadership that bears responsibility for Monday's mayhem, but the electorate that put that leadership in place. Their choice can be explained in a number of ways, one of which is that Hamas credibly presented itself as the clean-government alternative to Mr. Abbas's notoriously corrupt Fatah party. There's some truth in that. But the deeper explanation is the incessant campaign of anti-Israel demonization launched by Yasser Arafat following the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1993. The main difference between the Hamas government and Arafat's is that Hamas is more honest about its terrorist ambitions. The case has been made that the Palestinian choice of government undermines the logic of the Bush Administration's democracy agenda. But democracy always involves the risk that the bad guys might come to power: Look at Germany in 1933. By contrast, failing to promote democracy only guarantees that the bad guys--the Gadhafis, the Assads, the Husseins--will stay in power. Given the choice, the Administration has been right to take the risk. The question is what to do now with a Hamas government that rejects the very basis of the Authority it now governs: Palestinians agreed to recognize the state of Israel under the Oslo Accord that also created the Palestinian Authority. Clearly, Israel is fully entitled to do what it must to protect its own citizens, and it has shown notable restraint this week. But ultimately, Palestinians need to confront the consequences of their electoral choices, at least if there's any hope of altering their destructive ambitions toward their neighbors. That means imposing, as the Bush Administration has done, a diplomatic and economic embargo, and encouraging other countries to join ranks. Not all of them will do so--Russia, Venezuela, Syria and Iran have already made open overtures to Hamas, and other governments have no doubt done so secretly. But that's no reason for the U.S. to fold to an assembly of outcast states, nor to undervalue our ability to bring others to our side. A government that cheers the indiscriminate killing of David Shaulov and Marcelle Cohen deserves no help, and no sympathy, from any civilized nation, least of all the United States. opinionjournal.com