leogodin.net

The Guardian is reporting that President Elect Barack Obama is planning to communicate with Hamas. This is a huge break from the Bush doctrine; “We don’t negotiate with terrorists”. This is a welcome change and frankly is an obvious course of action.

With the US supported elections in Palestine, Hamas came to power as a Democratically elected government. As such they ought to be treated as such. This does not mean we should establish full diplomatic relations with Hamas but continuing a “No Communication” policy with Hamas is senseless and serves no purpose. There are many countries with whom president Bush refused to be in communication with, some of which are close by in South America or off our coast like Cuba and Venezuela.

President elect Obama seems much more willing than his soon to be predecessor to speak with “enemies” of the US. Beginning some sort of diplomatic relations with places like Palestine and Cuba could go a longer way towards influencing these countries than our current silence. In the case of Cuba, we should lift the trade embargo and allow unrestricted travel to Cuba. This is the only way we can begin to move towards a productive relationship with that country.

In the end it comes down to this. Why are we so afraid to enter into a battle of ideology with our enemies? Are we afraid that Democracy is not strong enough to support? Are western ideals to weak to support a debate? No, Democracy and freedom are great ideals that shine next to communism, socialism, and dictatorships. Our recent influence though war has been disastrous. Now is the time to wage a war of ideals through diplomacy and information.

The Guardian article is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas