Rice Admits U.S. Underestimated Hamas Strength - New York Times: "'I've asked why nobody saw it coming,' Ms. Rice said, speaking of her own staff. 'It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse.'Um, no they weren't. It cracks me up that the people who were elected by fixing two elections themselves, don't understand that in other countries sometimes the people get so fed up with things that they turn out en masse to voice their opinion as opposed to us Americans who are given choices between is that all there is and yes, that is all there is and just can't see the point in voting since you aren't listening.
Immediately after the election, Bush administration officials said the results reflected a Palestinian desire for change and not necessarily an embrace of Hamas, which the United States, Israel and the European Union consider a terrorist organization sworn to Israel's destruction. But Ms. Rice's comments seemed to reflect a certain second-guessing over how the administration had failed to foresee, or factor into its thinking, the possibility of a Hamas victory.
Indeed, Hamas's victory has set off a debate whether the administration was so wedded to its belief in democracy that it could not see the dangers of holding elections in regions where Islamist groups were strong and democratic institutions weak.
'There is a lot of blame to go around,' said Martin Indyk, a top Middle East negotiator in the Clinton administration, referring to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and his Fatah party. 'But on the American side, the conceptual failure that contributed to disaster was the president's belief that democracy and elections solve everything.'
Ms. Rice pointed out that the election results surprised just about everyone. 'I don't know anyone who wasn't caught off guard by Hamas's strong showing,' she said on her way to London for meetings on the Middle East, Iran and other matters. 'Some say that Hamas itself was caught off guard by its strong showing.'"
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