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Spreading democracy to the Middle East

Apparantely involves cutting off all aid to the democratically elected government of Palestine, as Hamas is slightly too militant for Israel and the US/EU. The usual
big denounciations of terrorism have been made and deamnds have been made for Hamas to recognise Israel, but in the meantime Israel’s terrorist attacks on the Gazastrip and the West Bank continue with little disapproval, though the international football association FIFA has not been pleased with one of Israel’s latest attacks, on a football pitch:

Jerome Champagne, FIFA deputy general secretary in charge of political issues, said it was a direct strike “without any reason” and that the soccer field was not being used by Palestinians as a missile launching pad, as Israel’s ambassador to Switzerland had originally claimed.

“We have just asked for explanations,” Champagne said in a telephone interview. “FIFA has been fighting for more than a century to make this game universal. To hit a football field is really the wrong signal.”

[…]

No casualties were reported in the air strike, which reportedly left a large crater in the field. The Israel Defense Forces said there had not been any rocket fire from the soccer field, but that the air strike was part of an effort to deter possible attacks after an increase in rocket launches from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Chomsky puts it well by comparing the US (and the EU!)’s actions with some of Osama Bin Laden’s rhetoric about how in a democracy people are responsible for their leaders’ actions:

On the moral implications, the plans were reported on Feb. 14 in the front-page lead story in the New York Times. Two days earlier, the Times published a blistering review of Osama bin Laden’s “morally outrageous” pronouncements, which reached the ultimate depth of depravity in 2002, with a message that put forth “the perverse claim that since the United States is a democracy, all citizens bear responsibility for its government’s actions, and civilians are therefore fair targets.” The reviewer, law professor Noah Feldman, is correct in describing this as ultimate depravity. The Feb. 14 story, and subsequent ones, have provided details on how the US and Israel have adopted Osama’s “perverse claim,” descending to ultimate depravity, and are proceeding to implement it. The announced plans are intended to impose suffering and starvation on Palestinian civilians because they voted the wrong way, and to ensure that others do not come to their relief (the goal of a trip to the Middle East by Condoleezza Rice, according to the Times). We may also note that this is nothing new. Osama’s “perverse claim” has been official US policy for at least 45 years, often formulated in virtually his words.

The political implications are no less clear and significant. The mantra that all right-thinking people are supposed to chant is that the administration is guided by the President’s “messianic mission” to bring democracy to the Middle East. Inspection reveals that the evidence for this belief scarcely goes beyond declarations of noble intent by the leadership, while counter-evidence is massive. We now can add more counter-evidence. The Bush administration refused to allow elections as long as Yasser Arafat was alive, because the wrong man would win. That was not kept secret, and Arafat’s death was welcomed with joy because now the US could promote elections that could be expected to come out the right way. As the elections approached, and it became clear that the victory of the right man was not certain, Washington resorted to standard techniques of subversion: as reported in the national press, US aid was diverted to show pieces that could be used to bolster the image of the preferred candidate. When subversion failed, the US and Israel at once proceeded to undermine the elections, adopting Osama’s doctrine (borrowed from traditional US rhetoric and practice).

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