US State Department: By "Shun" Terrorist Governments We Mean "Not Shun"
Of course:
The US won't deal with Hamas ministers in a future Palestinian Authority government, but will also not cut off ties with the PA as a result of Hamas's inclusion, diplomatic officials said Monday. According to the officials, the US formula for dealing with a PA government following Wednesday's elections would be based on the "Lebanese model." In Lebanon, the officials said, the US continues to have strong ties with the government in Beirut even though Hizbullah is part of it. It does not, however, have any contact with the one Hizbullah minister.
What a stupid policy. Anyway, this is from yesterday's MR:
"The American administration has promised Israel that the United States will not recognize any Palestinian government in which Hamas participates, government sources in Jerusalem said yesterday."... We expect a slow progression from "will not recognize" to "government legitimately elected by the Palestinian people". And soon thereafter, the United States will "reluctantly" indeed recognize a Palestinian government in which Hamas participates.
In fairness to you and to us, this isn't exactly a difficult story to cover. Barak at IRIS Blog is also covering it, and Meryl followed the same 'no is not really no' process when the EU played it last week. But you'd think they'd at least wait more than a day to start backtracking. Just for appearance's sake.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
The US won't deal with Hamas ministers in a future Palestinian Authority government, but will also not cut off ties with the PA as a result of Hamas's inclusion, diplomatic officials said Monday. According to the officials, the US formula for dealing with a PA government following Wednesday's elections would be based on the "Lebanese model." In Lebanon, the officials said, the US continues to have strong ties with the government in Beirut even though Hizbullah is part of it. It does not, however, have any contact with the one Hizbullah minister.
What a stupid policy. Anyway, this is from yesterday's MR:
"The American administration has promised Israel that the United States will not recognize any Palestinian government in which Hamas participates, government sources in Jerusalem said yesterday."... We expect a slow progression from "will not recognize" to "government legitimately elected by the Palestinian people". And soon thereafter, the United States will "reluctantly" indeed recognize a Palestinian government in which Hamas participates.
In fairness to you and to us, this isn't exactly a difficult story to cover. Barak at IRIS Blog is also covering it, and Meryl followed the same 'no is not really no' process when the EU played it last week. But you'd think they'd at least wait more than a day to start backtracking. Just for appearance's sake.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
