Last week, the story was that America and Israel were going to cooperate on undermining Palestine’s new Hamas-led government.  It seemed they figured that if they made it difficult for Hamas to govern, that would make them lose support among the Palestinians.

Someone must have spoken up at a meeting down in Foggy Bottom.  “Gee, uh, Condi, um, maybe I’m going out on a limb here, but do you think maybe Hamas will blame Israel and America for any problems it has?  Maybe conspiring against them could make them stronger?  Oh, and please don’t tell anybody in Cheney’s office I said that.  I like to keep my phone calls private, and you know how that last guy got shot in the face.”

So, it does seem that minor amounts of common sense have infiltrated U.S. policy.  This week, they’re warning Israel not to take too drastic of steps, with the obvious subtext that it could strengthen Hamas.

Pete DeWan