Bush: the bizarro Midas' touch

One of the key features of BushCorp™ policy making is becoming increasingly apparent, its penchant for governance by unintended consequences.

In North Korea Bush's dissolution of Clinton era accords led to Pyonyang's unsupervised development of nuclear capability.

On the Gulf Coast, Bush's hack appointees combined with the Republican penchant for the privatization of government responsibilities led to the exacerbation of the devastation by Hurricane Katrina.

And in Iraq...well 'nuff said.

So Hamas' recent takeover of Gaza should really come as no surprise to anyone watching the unfolding of BushCorp™ policy in the area.

For a good overview of this sorry situation you might try this Washington Post article, but let me break it down for you.

First the US, typically, blindly backed Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza leaving a power vacuum in the area.

Then Bush, drunk on his own pro-democracy rhetoric, if not NA beer, encouraged Palestinian elections on the assumption that US backed Fatah, despite its record of incompetence and corruption (wonder how Bush missed that?) would win handily.

Funny thing though. Hamas, whose consistently anti-Israel rhetoric and behavior, as well as its more effective humanitarian activities (relative to Fatah anyway) makes it popular with the Palestinian street, won the election and took over the government. Hey, Hamas might be fundamentalist terrorists, but at least they get things done.

And, in an unsurprising betrayal of its pro-democracy rhetoric, rather than recognizing the need to talk to Palestine's democratically elected government, Bush organized a global effort to cut off support for Palestine in hopes of toppling the regime in favor of US backed Fatah.

Another funny story. It turns out that Palestinians, on seeing their already desperate plight worsened, apparently are focusing their hatred, not on their own elected government, but on Fatah, a group now seen not only as incompetent and corrupt, but also as a US/Israeli collaborator.

Oops.

You know, if five years ago you had asked me whether the Israeli/Palestinian conflict could get any more hopeless, I'd have been hard pressed to envision a situation worse than the cycle of violence which already gripped the region.

Then again, five years ago I didn't know then what I now now about Bush's bizarro Midas' touch.