Hamas gets down to business
Hamas leader Khalid Meshal met in Tehran with officials of Iran's mad mullahcracy this past Tuesday. "With respect to the challenges that we have ahead of us, Iran's role in the future of Palestine should continue and increase," Meshal said in a joint press conference in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
In an interview published yesterday, Meshal announced that a first order of business for the new Hamas-led government will be the release of the murderers of Israeli Cabinet Minister Rehavam Ze'evi:
One of the new government's first priorities, Khaled said, would be the release of the four killers of Israeli Tourism Minister and retired IDF general Rehavam Ze'evi (Gandhi). The four are confined to a form of prison in Jericho, under the watch of British and American soldiers. They participated in the murder of Ze'evi in a Jerusalem hotel in October 2001, rendering him the 188th victim of the then-one-year-old Oslo War. Another nearly 900 people have been similarly murdered since then.In his speech yesterday before the American Legion, President Bush had this to say about the emergence of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority:"It is obvious that the release of [Ze'evi's killers] will be at the top of our agenda," Meshal said.
[A]s democracy takes root, the responsibilities of governing will have a moderating influence on those who assume power in free elections. It's easier to be a martyr than a mayor, or a cabinet minister. When you're responsible for building roads and bridges and power stations and educating people and providing help, you're less likely to blow up health clinics and schools and bridges.I'm sure Hamas is quaking in its boots at the prospect of its judgment by the "Palestinian people." And when is that next election, anyway? The ratio of nonsense to sense here is painfully high. President Bush continues:In democracies, elected leaders must deliver real change in people's lives, or the voters will boot them out at the next election time. This is a lesson that the leaders of Hamas will now have to learn, as they take power after their election victory in the Palestinian Territories. Hamas campaigned on a platform of fighting corruption and improving social services, and that is how a Hamas government will be judged by the Palestinian people.
The leaders of Hamas have a choice to make. If they want the help of America and the international community to build a prosperous, independent Palestinian state, they must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace. The international community must continue to make clear to Hamas that democratically elected leaders cannot have one foot in the camp of democracy and one foot in the camp of terror. (Applause.) The world is waiting to see what choice Hamas makes.I think it's more realistic to say that the leaders of the United States have a choice to make. Yesterday's Jerusalem Post reported:
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and US envoy David Welch in Ramallah Saturday, said after the meeting that Welch promised him that the US would not cut off financial aid to the PA, Israel Radio reported.One choice that confronts the leaders of the United States is what to do about Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons. President Bush addressed this issue:
Iran's aggressive behavior and pursuit of nuclear weapons is increasing its international isolation. When Iran's case was brought before the IAEA earlier this month, 27 nations voted against Iran, including Russia and China and India and Brazil and Sri Lanka and Egypt and Yemen. The only nations to support Iran were Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela. Now Iran's case will be taken up to the U.N. Security Council. The free world is sending the regime in Tehran a clear message: We're not going to allow Iran to have nuclear weapons."Cannot be allowed" is strong language. If it is up to the world's free nations (other than the United States), nothing will be done to prevent Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons beyond contributing more hot air to the warming of the globe. I think President Bush is a man of his word, and that he is disinclined to leave this particular problem to his successor. When he says, "We're not going to Iran to allow Iran to have nuclear weapons," I wonder if that is more hot air from the "international community" or a message from the leaders of the United States.The world's free nations are also worried because the Iranian regime is not transparent. You see, a non-transparent society that is the world's premier state sponsor of terror cannot be allowed to possess the world's most dangerous weapons.
