Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I don't think what he said about punishment is irrational. Although, as Hank points out, it's not like it's obvious what the best policy is. Something like 2/3 of the people in the West Bank are living on food aid. If you cut off everything going to the government now that Hamas is in charge, people are going to starve.
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Withholding aid when the new government takes over seemed politically inevitable - even if someone thought it was the best policy, aiding a government run by Hamas just wouldn't have political support. For humanitarian reasons and to try to keep a lid on in general, you can re-route some portion of the humanitarian component through relief organizations and the UN (unless you're Bush and have a visceral dislike of all things UN), but sending any through Hamas is crazy. That said, the failure to use relief organizations and the UN to keep a lid on it has had a toll.
On the other hand, withholding tax revenues owed to the government strikes me as a simple treaty/international law violation.
