May 7, 2005
POLITICS IS JUST THE CONTINUATION:
Hamas makes strong election showing (Greg Myre, MAY 7, 2005, The New York Times)
The Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, emerged as the winner on Friday in local elections, but the Islamic faction Hamas also made a strong showing.
The rivals are headed for even more important showdowns at the ballot box this summer.
The results suggested that Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian politics for decades, and Abbas remain on top for now.
But the voting also indicated that Hamas had transformed itself from a movement popular on the streets into a well-organized political operation.
There's a country to be run.
Posted by Orrin Judd at May 7, 2005 8:51 AM
why would hamas be any better at running a country than the ba'ath party was ? and why would they be less inclined to continue or even expand their terrorist actions when they have the resources of a state at their disposal ? isn't it more likely that a palestinian state would in fact be more of a problem for the u.s. ?
Posted by: cjm at May 7, 2005 10:24 AMIf an independent nation sponsors terror against you, you can declare war on them and do what you need to do. When you are an 'occupier' you have far less freedom of action.
Posted by: bart at May 7, 2005 11:18 AMtheory is great but reality too often intrudes in the rudest ways. iraq, iran, egypt, syria, sodomy arabia, et als, committed acts of terrorism without war being declared on them.
Posted by: cjm at May 7, 2005 3:25 PMThe Irgun seems to have made the transition.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at May 7, 2005 4:08 PMjust like the ira did, and shining path did, and the khmer rouge did, and the bolsheviks did...oops, sorry my wrong.
when you start with murdering psychopaths, you end with murdering psychopaths. unless of course you believe in spontaneous speciation.
Posted by: cjm at May 7, 2005 4:45 PMThe IRA has. The Bolsheviks did. The Shining Path would.
Posted by: oj at May 7, 2005 5:51 PMira: still armed, still killing and robbing and intimidating (in the real world)
bolsheviks: murdered 30m once in power, allied with the nazis, subjugated half of europe for 40+ years (in the real world)
shining path: khmer rouge II (in the real world)
Posted by: cjm at May 7, 2005 8:35 PMSinn Fein
Ran an empire
The Khmer too became just another political party.
Posted by: oj at May 7, 2005 9:34 PMThe Irgun never engaged in what we would define today as 'terror.'
The IRA appears to have switched MOs to becoming like the FARC, merely a criminal enterprise rather than being about any political goal, merely using the claim of a political orientation as a means of generating support from the stupid. Sendero Luminoso and the Khmer Rouge remain quite insane by any standard.
Posted by: bart at May 8, 2005 7:54 AMYes, they engaged in what their own time called terror. Today they'd do car bombings.
Posted by: oj at May 8, 2005 8:04 AMThe Irgun only attacked British military targets and only after more than fair warning. They were no more terrorist than the Green Mountain Boys.
Posted by: bart at May 9, 2005 1:44 PMWho were the terrorists of their day.
Posted by: oj at May 9, 2005 3:03 PM