-- Posted by zigily at 6:03 am on Jan. 4, 2009 Hamas was democratically elected by palestinians, should the west recognise them as a legitimate government? -- Posted by Hey Jewlee at 6:04 am on Jan. 4, 2009 no. -- Posted by Bagheera at 6:10 am on Jan. 4, 2009 Yes. -- Posted by JasonHot at 6:14 am on Jan. 4, 2009 well, yah, they were democratically elected like the govt of israel, but that doesnt make em good people.  countries "recognize" all kinds of bad leaders around the world but we dont have to deal with em. -- Posted by zigily at 6:21 am on Jan. 4, 2009 Quote: from JasonHot at 6:14 am on Jan. 4, 2009 well, yah, they were democratically elected like the govt of israel, but that doesnt make em good people. countries "recognize" all kinds of bad leaders around the world but we dont have to deal with em. That seems like a pretty poor reason not to aknowledge them as a government. I thought George Bush was a pretty shit person, but I wouldn't ignore the fact that America elected him.   -- Posted by emo sux69 at 10:18 am on Jan. 4, 2009 i wouldn't acknowledge them either, their morals are completely unethical. -- Posted by zigily at 11:01 am on Jan. 4, 2009 Quote: from emo sux69 at 10:18 am on Jan. 4, 2009 i wouldn't acknowledge them either, their morals are completely unethical. I really can't understand that reasoning. It's like, so we support countries having democracy so long as they democratically elect someone we like, otherwise we're just not going to recognise it!??? -- Posted by lsd at 12:24 pm on Jan. 4, 2009 Quote: from zigily at 11:01 am on Jan. 4, 2009 Quote: from emo sux69 at 10:18 am on Jan. 4, 2009 i wouldn't acknowledge them either, their morals are completely unethical. I really can't understand that reasoning. It's like, so we support countries having democracy so long as they democratically elect someone we like, otherwise we're just not going to recognise it!???   I think it is a perfectly legitimate tactic for governments to not recognize another one.   -- Posted by rijames99 at 11:59 pm on Jan. 4, 2009 It's an interesting question and I'm not entirely convinced of my position on it. On the one hand, they were elected, which gives them legitimacy.  On the other hand, they were declared a terrorist organization prior to being elected and we have a policy of not dealing with terrorist organizations. I suppose we could recognize them as the legitimate government, but choose not to deal with them. In these kinds of highly charged philosophical issues I find it helpful to look at a similar situation, but with different players.  For example, would the US recognise a government which democratically elected Al Quada as its governement? Twenty years ago, when the IRA was violent, would Great Britan have recognised them as the legitimate government of Ireland, had they been democratically elected? Good question; tough answer. (BTW, I don't believe the Bush issue is at all the same.  I, too dislike Bush,  but he was not identified as a terrorist prior to being elected.)