Hamas’ victory adds to Mideast complexities

Khaled Meshaal’s diatribe against the reaction of the West to Hamas’ victory (Opinion, Feb. 1) misses the point. The West applauds free and open elections; whether the results were what the West would have liked is not the point.

With victory comes the responsibility of governance. Hamas sought to join the community of nations, and now it has. With that comes the responsibility of behaving in a manner consistent with the international rule of law. Demanding the elimination of a country and encouraging terrorism are not consistent with that role.

The unwillingness of other countries to fund an organization that does not share their values is not meant as a punishment, just as a reality check. In sharp contrast to the corruption and ineffectiveness of the prior governments, Hamas can take the bold steps necessary to ensure a lasting peace in the region, a move that will benefit its constituents the most. Don’t blow it.

BRUCE GOREN

Los Angeles

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Re “The weakness in backing strongmen,” Opinion, Feb. 1

Max Boot says that Hamas’ election is proof of President Bush’s claim that democracy is the cure for radical Islam because we backed a strongman, Yasser Arafat, to keep Hamas down. He conveniently forgets that Arafat himself was democratically elected.

The whole problem is now, and has always been, oil revenue. Muslim countries are medieval societies with power, influence and access to modern weaponry, thanks to billions in oil dollars. In order to move out of squalid conditions and have subsequent democracy, the West had to have a Reformation, Renaissance and an Enlightenment. Arabs have zero incentive to modernize because they are doing just fine financially. Letting a country full of religious fundamentalists vote is not going to do it.

The justifications for the Iraq war (which is what all of Boot’s pieces really amount to) are becoming more and more tortured and divorced from reality or even common sense. The war was a mistake, plain and simple, and nothing is going to change that. Republicans have sold themselves quite well as the party of steely realism, but their policies betray the fact that they are living in a dream world.

BRANDEN FRANKEL

Los Angeles