I'm seriously conflicted as to what the proper response we, as Democrats and liberals, should have to the unfortunate results in Israel.
First of all, I want to point out that to the degree "evil" exists, Hamas is evil. Yes, they build hospitals and schools, but they only do so for power and the ability to kill, not to make Palestine a better place. For them, Palestinians are just foot soldiers in the war against Israel.
Okay, on the one hand, while this is not "directly" Bush's fault (indeed, the vast majority of the blame must lie with Abbas and his party's own corruption, and to the conservative rhetoric, and more than occasional overreacting, that comes from Israel which creates distrust amongst Palestinians). But Bush did create a middle east zeitgeist that has made extremism the best card for every political subgroup to play - he has created distrust between the region and the Westerners that Israel allies themselves with - and he has extended our military and shown its weakness, and in doing so prevented it from putting real fear in the hearts of extremists.
On the other hand, like it or not, deserve it or not, he's the President. Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton cannot run foreign policy. Israel, for all its flaws, is the only democracy, the only guaranteed ally, and the home of millions of people, and must remain protected. If Israel needs our support, and indeed it appears they will, we should be willing to support them, militarily if need be.
So how do we stand tough on terrorism, and tough on a reactionary religious fundamentalist conservative movement, without condoning more generally Bush's foreign policy? And how do we support the President when and if he does the right thing in the Near Middle East, when he's done such horrible things in Iraq and to our own Constitution?
Remember, when it comes to Israel, there are enough neoconservatives in the administration that Bush will not use Israel purely for political capital. And though the religious right and the neoconservatives may support Israel for the wrong reasons, Israel, at least in its right to exist, deserves our response.
Note: To those of you who disagree with the last sentence, I fully respect your right to disagree. However, I'd appreciate you not posting any response on this thread. I do not want this thread to boil down into a pro-, anti- slugfest. I want a constructive response. You are fully free to start your own thread for other purposes.