What now, Georgie?

The current explanation (version #229) for the war in Iraq is that the US is there to bring democracy and peace to the Middle East. Yet, as James Ridgeway reports in today's Village Voice, the win by Hamas in Palestinian elections now means that 3 hardline groups head up the governments of Iran, Iraq & Palestine.

All 3 of these groups are militant toward the machinations of Bush's erstwhile foreign policy. So Georgie, how you going to spin this one?

Hamas's stunning victory in the Palestinian elections represents not just another setback in American foreign policy, but a real debacle. Ever since Khomeini took power in Iran, the U.S. and many of the Western nations have feared the creation of a militant Muslim presence stretching from Iran across the Middle East.

With Hamas's democratic victory yesterday, the people of Palestine have spoken, and what they want is George Bush's nightmare.

As things now stand, Iran remains under Shiite control. The recent elections in Iraq have resulted in a Shiite-dominated central government there. (That government is almost sure to shrivel as the country breaks into three parts--the southernmost is Shiite, and has control over important oil reserves.) With Hamas in power in the Palestinian territory, there is yet another militant Muslim group with a grip on the wheel of state.

Despite assertions to the contrary by the Bush administration, al Qaeda appears to have grown and spread its operations. The Taliban is once more active in Afghanistan. Where bin Laden was at loggerheads with Saddam Hussein before the war, now al Qaeda has inserted itself into Iraq where it operates with apparently considerable freedom.

All this is coming at a time when reports are showing the American military strained to the breaking point--as if that outcome should have been at all unexpected.