Democracy in Action...It's a Beautiful Thing

^.^

Alright. It is now two days since the elections in Iraq, and the Left in this country is astounded that the elections went so well...mostly because it means that George W. Bush has been totally vindicated in his idea that the United States can use military force to bring democracy to an authoritarian state.

All the rest of the authoritarian states would do well to learn a few lessons from the example of Iraq.

But, before we get to that, let's take a look at not one, but TWO elections that must surely have the people in the White House jumping up and down, shouting "YES!"

First, at the beginning of January, we had the election in the Palestinian territories. In them, Abu Mazan prevailed over a bunch of no-names and has succeeded the late terrorist, Yasser Arafat to lead the Palestinian people, and during his first month in office, he has already done more for the Palestinian people than Arafat did in the last two years of his life.

Despite sporadic incidents, the cease-fire that Mazan asked for after winning the election appears to be holding. In case you don't remember, there was a time not too long ago where mortar attacks from Gaza or the West Bank would hit some Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, or a town in Israel proper. Once this happened, the Israeli army would respond with overwhelming force, lock down an area of the occupied territory, bulldoze a few houses, perhaps kill a few Palestinians who they accused of being terrorists, and generally make life a living Hell for the inhabitants. After a while, the Israelis would pull out, some idiot terrorists would vow revenge for the "acts of oppression" committed by the Israeli army, and before long, another mortar attack would be launched, starting the cycle again...

The cycle has largely been stopped.

Instead, Israeli army units are pulling back from the border areas, and Palestinian security forces are being deployed in an effort to stop terrorist attacks into Israel.

At the same time, Mazan has started cracking down on corruption within the municipalities. On a visit to Gaza, Mazan saw some shops that had been built without legal permits. Under the regime of Arafat, these shanty shops had been allowed. Mazan ordered them demolished. One man who lost his shop was not happy, but he seemed willing to accept it as long as all of the illegal shops were demolished.

"Abu Mazan said he was going to enforce the laws," the man said.

Abu Mazan's approach to the peace process, and perhaps the very fact that he is NOT Yasser Arafat has also opened some doors that had been closed to the Palestinians prior to his winning the presidency.

See, ever since Yasser Arafat started attempting to pretend that he was a statesman and not a terrorist, both Israel and the United States have attempted to work with him. I believe, based on the results of the talks, that the United States and Israel were honestly working toward a just peace in the Middle East, with Israel living side-by-side with a Palestinian state. Arafat however, wanted no such thing. I know this because former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and former US President Bill Clinton handed Yasser Arafat *95%* of what he wanted. He wasn't going to get ONE thing, and he threw the agreement in everyone else's face and walked out of the talks.

Yasser Arafat never wanted Jerusalem by itself...he wanted that city, plus Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and every square inch from Elat to Kiryat Shimona...preferably with the Jews driven into the sea. Once Israel and the United States realized this on some level, they stopped doing business with the man that I called the "little evil elf".

Now we have Abu Mazan, and while I don't want to throw all of my eggs in this one basket, I really do hope that he is serious about making real progress in the peace process. Like I said, doors have been opened that were slammed shut on Arafat. Mazan and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be meeting soon, and a meeting with President Bush is also planned. This is a signal that in Abu Mazan, we have a man that we can do business with.

I believe that the future of the Palestinians and the Israelis has been brightened, and it was done through a democratic election that we backed wholeheartedly.

More democracy in action in Part II...

John B.