Of the people, by the people, for the terrorists
By Frank Salvato
web posted February 27, 2006
Common sense dictates that it is unwise to fund those who want to do you harm. It makes no sense to buy bullets for a gun that will be shot at you. In fact, it wouldn't be out of line to say that funding those who have declared you are the enemy, for any reason, is a pretty stupid move. In light of this bit of logic, why is the United States, or any other free nation for that matter, still mulling the possibility of funding a Hamas-led Palestinian government?
Recently, the US State Department, in response to declarations by senior Hamas leaders refusing to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist, and the refusal of those now elected to power by the Palestinian people to renounce violence and terrorism, asked – asked – the Palestinian Authority to return $50 million US dollars so taxpayers were not funding a Hamas-led Palestinian government.
The fact that Hamas refuses to both acknowledge Israel's right to exist and renounce its terrorism isn't surprising. After all, Hamas is a terrorist organization and recognized as such, not only by our State Department, but by just about every credible entity on the face of the planet. Those who don't recognize Hamas as a purveyor of terror are those who are themselves involved in terrorism, those who are corrupt beyond salvage, "progressive" college students vulnerable to their Socialist-leaning professors and Jimmy Carter.
There is an important point that needs to be highlighted. "Aid" that is issued in the name of the US government to any country or organization for any reason is literally derived of taxpayer dollars. Whether it is $350 million for tsunami relief, an initial $50 million for Pakistani earthquake aid or $87 billion for the liberation, stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq, it is all derived from taxpayer dollars.
So, when the US government sends $50 million to coax Hamas terrorists into not murdering their Israeli neighbors; to reward them for restraining from strapping on suicide vests made of nails and C4 in a quest to acquaint themselves with those 72 virgins, the bribe is bankrolled by American taxpayer dollars.
Keeping that in mind, the State Department, although it has asked for the $50 million still in Palestinian Authority hands to be returned, says it will "continue to work to meet the humanitarian needs of ordinary Palestinians using non-governmental entities."
Translation: The US government is going to find ways to continue to give American taxpayer dollars to the people who are directly responsible for voting a terrorist organization into power, and are knowingly complicit with the actions of a terrorist organization sanctioned through their democratic process.
The United States has given over $1.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians over the past decade, channeling most of the aid through non-governmental entities. Over the same period of time the vitriol aimed at the United States coming from the leaders of Hamas, and those groups aligned with Hamas – not to mention the Palestinian people, has grown exponentially. The experiment of trying to "buy the child's love" has failed miserably and, as in real life, the child has grown to resent the adult, this time to the point of wanting to kill him.
Lending material support, or knowingly providing financial support, physical assets or services to a foreign terrorist organization was criminalized (US Code Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 113B, Sections 2339A & 2339B) during the Clinton administration as part of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. In 2001, the Patriot Act increased the penalty for providing material support from 10 years in prison to 15 years and determined that "if the death of any person results, [violators] shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life."
The US State Department officially recognizes Hamas as a terrorist organization. Therefore it is illegal for aid, in any form – whether from a governmental, a non-governmental or a private entity – to be given to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority or those who voted them into power for any reason.
If, as the State Department says, the US government continues to "work to meet the humanitarian needs of ordinary Palestinians using non-governmental entities," it is in violation of the law. Essentially, the US government would be "laundering" taxpayer dollars through non-governmental groups to give aid to a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is calling on Islamic nations to fund the Palestinian government after Hamas takes control, while Iran's president calls for the annihilation of Israel from the face of the earth. Both of the genocidal maniacs call for Israeli destruction – as well as the downfall of the United States – while Iran defies the World by ignoring the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and pursuing nuclear weapons.
The lines are being drawn, people, and the United States is not the one doing the drawing!
Humanitarian aid is one thing, but when US taxpayer dollars are being given to the very people calling for our country's downfall "We the People" must stand up, say enough is enough and make sure we are heard.
It is time that those elected to represent us in Washington DC understand fully that they are elected to represent us, the voters, the taxpayers, not to extract hard-earned dollars for the benefit of terrorist organizations that would dance in the streets at our ruin.
Abraham Lincoln observed that our government is "of the people, by the people and for the people," it is time those elected to govern realize they work for us and not the other way around.
The United States must cease funding nations, organization and groups that, behind our backs, wish we were all dead. That's not isolationism, it's common sense. If it doesn't we could very well see our "government of the people, by the people, for the people," perish from the earth. 
Frank Salvato is the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He serves at the Executive Director of the Basics Project, a non-profit, non-partisan, socio-political education project. His pieces are regularly featured in over 100 publications both nationally and internationally. He has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, numerous radio shows coast to coast and his pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict. He can be contacted at oped@newmediajournal.us. Copyright © 2006 Frank Salvato