Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: The Global March to Jerusalem, a brave and admirable attempt to awaken the world’s conscience [View all]Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)because, prior to this year, there was no real chance of getting rid of him. It's pointless to publicly attack regimes whose grip on power is secure...the U.S. government criticized the Soviet Union(and usually hypocritically)on human rights for decades and none of that criticism achieved anything except to look shrill and embarassing. None of it HELPED the Soviet dissidents. And also, this is the Israel/Palestine forum...not the Egypt forum...so comments about Mubarak wouldn't have fit in here.
If U.S. people attacked Hamas like YOU want them to, loudly and pompously denouncing them Reagan-style, it would endanger the lives of dissidents in Gaza, because it would give Hamas ammunition to claim they were American stooges. It couldn't HELP pro-democracy people there. Do you want me to get Gazan and Palestinian pro-democracy types KILLED?
I have often criticized Hamas. I just don't do it on your command. And why should I be obligated to?