stig,

YOU were the one who said it was ok for a government to act that way, as long as it was democratically elected. YOU claim "Hamas are the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people. They are the instigators of valuble social projects in a place where no one else would start them, least of all Israel. Fatah also have elected representatives in the Palestinian Parliament. Of course, because the corporate political suits of the US don't like the fact someone with opposing views to their own have been democratically elected they perpetuate the conflict instead of working towards a geniune negotialed settlement to the Palestinian problem."

If you don't like what the US is doing, YOU can work towards a genuine negotiated settlement to the Iraq problem, since the US has as much, if not more, legitimacy as Hamas. Of course, Hamas has been killing Palestinians that disagree with them: I guess it will be OK for the US government to do the same...