In his Friday column, Charles Krauthammer writes that the Palestinians “must now live with the effects of their choice.” In doing so, he clearly (but perhaps unwittingly) illustrates why American efforts at “democracy in the Middle East” must ultimately fail.
He writes that since the Palestinian people have voted in a government whose primary goal is the destruction of Israel, we should not give them any support, money, or even recognition. “National goals have national consequences,” as he puts it. Let’s apply that to ourselves, shall we?
We go around the world, encouraging others to embrace democracy – “the will of the people,” we call it – yet when those people decide on a government that is openly hostile to our interests (or to Israelis!) we decide it’s time to browbeat them into submission, to get them to vote along our best interests. Some democracy, huh? The rest of the world can see this shameless hypocrisy, this cowardly way of having international relations. Democracy means nothing if people are not allowed to freely choose with their vote, without external influences. Yes, that means wars will occasionally happen … but that is better, and more honest, than the economic and social terrorism which Mr. Krauthammer is advocating.
Sometimes open war is better than a shameful peace … but before we start fighting the whole world, we should clean house at home first.
John Brandt
Everett
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