So Bush has finally unveiled his great Middle East peace plan. "I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing democracy, based on tolerance and liberty." How ludicrous to tie support for an independent Palestinian state to democratic reforms.
    First of all, the Palestinian Authority may be disgustingly corrupt, but it is probably the most democratic regime in the Middle East. It tolerates -- or is forced to accept -- opposition groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. If democratic credentials are to be the pre-condition of recognition, the US had better start withdrawing its ambassadors from most of the Middle East and Africa.
   I'm not saying that the West has to be entirely consistent, but the Palestinian Authority is not the place to start establishing the principle of democratic legitimacy. Try somewhere like Tunisia, a country with an authoritarian dictator, which could probably sustain political reforms.
   And there is no point telling the Palestinians to elect leaders untarnished by terror. You can *impose* new leaders of your liking, but free elections would probably bring power to those Islamic parties most associated with terror.
   So, Bush, if you're serious about Palestinian statehood, say something like this: "I call on the Palestinian people to accept undemocratic leaders acceptable to the Israelis and, by extension, us. A Palestinian Mubarak. In order to satisfy Israeli security concerns, he'll have to wipe out, violently, precisely those organizations that have most clearly expressed and fulfilled the will of the people. It will be oppression, but at least it will be your oppression: by Palestinians, for Palestinians."
President Bush Calls for New Palestinian Leadership [White House]