So lets see. The Islamists aligned with Iran are now poised to rule Iraq as a theocracy. Iran is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons with impunity. Thousands of Pakistanis are protesting against the U.S. and eulogizing Osama Bin Laden. And now the Palestinian Authority is going to be run by Islamic fundamentalists. Thousands of American soldiers have died in Iraq while hundreds of billions of dollar are being wasted. Somebody please explain how this serves America's interests.

Hamas win challenges US policy

By Matthew Davis
BBC News website, Washington

For all President George W Bush's talk of bringing democracy to the Middle East, Hamas' victory in a ballot of the Palestinian people is as awkward a result as he could have expected.

The Bush administration has made it clear it has no intention of dealing with a party that has "one foot in politics and another in terror".

So Hamas' win represents a policy dilemma for the US and an obstacle to its hopes of negotiating some form of peace in the Middle East.

Asked if such hopes were dead, Mr Bush tried his best to sound optimistic at a White House news conference.

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