Preamble
Having been unable to post for the last 3 months (I was detained), I am proud to announce that I am back at my desk, ready to report and comment on events around the world once again. I apologize for the long delay, but understand that certain events are out of anyones control in this world. From the sitemeter reports, I see that many of my loyal readers kept checking for new posts while I was unavailable, thank you. Without further delay, let us begin...
I love to say I told you so and be vindicated for my predictions, although I hate that it has to be like this. Hamas gunmen have taken complete control of the Gaza strip in an act of defiance to due process and the legally recongnized international laws. I predicted this years ago when Bush (King George) used his immense skills at mismanagement by promoting true democracy throughout the middle east. To reiterate, democracy is normally a good thing, but only functional in a decently educated culture with a strong middle class. Many places in the Islamic world simply have too much fanatacism to handle that type of government, it tends to elect violent radicals such as Hamas, who when they get impatient with the machinery of government, allow their gun toting hoolingans to take physical control of the streets, just as what happened in Gaza.
What next? Well, the simple answer is not a popular one in the Palestinian territories, partition. Deal with the new government of Abu Mazen in the West Bank, encourage a final settlement, normalization, and stability to ensue. Rooting out the Gaza gunmen in the narrow, crowded streets of Gaza would be an extremely bloody affair, so simply keep them isolated for the next few years (assuming they fail to yield to international agreements and renounce terrorism). Maybe allowing Egypt to annex that territory would be a decent solution, especially considering Gaza simply cannot economically support the masses of people within its boundaries. Otherwise, this could represent a second Palestinian state with the possibility of rejoining the West Bank at some point in the future when they discard their violent ways.
Of course, the more likely course of action will be a slow reconciliation with Fatah. In that course of events, too many compromises will have to be made to the Hamas thugs controlling the streets, and will likely not lead to any real peace with Israel for at least another generation.
You think King George learned his lesson in this fiasco? Probably not. Maybe he will inadvertantly push for a Hezbollah takeover in Lebanon next.
