The WaPo blames Bush for the Hamas victory

There’s plenty of blame to go around. Really. The WaPo found someone to blame Bush–Edward G. Abington Jr., a “consultant to the Palestinian Authority” (and what, one wonders, does he consult on? How to rename terrorism “resistance”?).

Abington said the Bush administration shares responsibility for the outcome because U.S. officials did little to help Abbas or to push the Israeli government to end settlement expansion, limit roadblocks, release prisoners or stop other activities that undermined his authority in the eyes of the Palestinian people. He said the result is a “huge blow to Bush’s advocacy of democracy in the Middle East” because Arab leaders fearful of Islamic victories in their countries will “push back very hard.”

David Makovsky, director of a project on the Middle East peace process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said “there was a lot of blame to go around here,” with the primary onus falling on Fatah. But he said U.S. involvement could have been more robust after the death of Arafat and the election of Abbas.

“There needs to be some soul-searching in Washington on this,” Makovsky said. “Late in the game, the United States was pressing for an election, while the work in creating liberal institutions had not materialized.”

Do you think perhaps there needs to be some soul-searching by, oh, the palestinians? Because when all is said and done, the choice is theirs to elect Hamas. Not the Bush Administration’s. Not the world’s. Theirs.

Terje Roed-Larsen, a former U.N. envoy for the Middle East who is president of the International Peace Academy, agreed that Hamas now faces a “political moment of truth” that provides an opportunity for creative diplomacy. He said that unless Hamas reforms itself and renounces terrorism, the flow of donor money from Europe and the United States will stop. As the government, Hamas will be responsible for the political, social and security collapse if Western governments refuse to continue to aid the Palestinians, he said.

Hamas “cannot postpone making a choice,” Larsen said. The United States and its allies need “to point out the dilemma, step back and see how they handle it.”

Terje the Toad is lying to himself. Hamas does not want to make a choice. It wants to keep on killing.

Martin S. Indyk, a Clinton administration official and the director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, agreed that Hamas will find that it can no longer be an obstacle, but said he does not foresee an immediate change in its platform. He said the result might be an “ironic situation in which it is in their interest to maintain peace, but not make peace with Israel.”

I believe they have a phrase for that. It’s called “hudna,” and it’s a long-term dodge to re-arm and war again. But at least someone sees that they’re not going to change their stripes.