When I read that the US is considering shifting its position on Hamas, I was shocked. Although democracy has been a key stated goal of your policies, democracy without freedom is worthless. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad gangs are not interested in freedom one bit: their entire goal is the exact opposite, the creation of a theocratic thugocracy.
Elections will not change this - they will make it worse, by giving these groups a veneer of democratic "legitimacy." Rabid anti-semitism and anti-US hate would continue to be the order of the day. Murderous thugs will not suddenly become peace-loving, no matter what the US does.
Although I have supported you strongly in the "war on terror" (really the war against Islamic terror,) these reports that the US is considering giving Hamas more legitimacy are not only troubling, they go completely against what you are trying to accomplish in other areas of the world. Nobody expected Iraq and Afghanistan to be successful free states immediately, but they are on their way - because they now have basic freedoms. Sharansky, whom you have said you admire, argues these points more forcefully than I can.
Until there are basic freedoms available in the Palestinian territories, elections are a joke. Corrupt politicians who still support terror do not help the Palestinian people in the least. Knowing these facts, it is hard to understand why the US would even consider warming up relations with Hamas.
Supporting freedom before the next round of elections may make the process take a bit longer, but at least there would be the possibility of success.
