Abbas: A Puppet Strangling on its String
Democracy relentlessly marches on. The power of the presidency is rightfully diminished, and the parlimentary system of multiple parties creating a sole or coalition rule waxes in a country least suited to almost any kind of rule except by the fist, stone, or gun.
Democracy is twelve years too late. Had both Israel and the Arafat regime taken the brave steps after Oslo, we might have had the ability to keep today from occurring. Neither side stepped up to the plate, as we have so historically managed to dodge solutions in search of obstacles.
And now we are left with a rapidly dissolving head of the PA, a man grasping at saving the Palestinians from ruining relationships he and his predecessors worked for decades to build. Hamas has brought a mountain=sized rock to the West Bank, and Europe, post-London, post-Madrid, post-9/11, is in a very hard place.
I admire Mahmoud Abbas for his attempts to stop Hamas from himself, and this, sadly, may be the only legacy left to him.