Analysis: Limits of Bush Democracy Talk

President Bush speaks during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, not shown, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert - AP)

"I really don't believe that we can favor postponing elections because we fear an outcome," Rice said days before the voting.

When Hamas won, Washington took its lumps and never publicly regretted the choice to back elections. It also immediately began work to diplomatically and economically starve out Hamas, a political and military organization that the U.S., Israel and the European Union count as a terrorist group. Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel's right to exist, conditions the world has set for recognition and aid.

Abbas apparently has 60 days to hold new elections to replace a government that is theoretically temporary. He has not been precise about his plans.

Hamas, currently the only real political alternative to Abbas' Fatah Party, refuses new elections on Abbas' terms and timetable. Hamas now controls the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, and Abbas' government controls the larger West Bank. Each holds power in part on the strength of partisan militias.

Although it has pushed for new elections or referenda in other instances of emergency rule, the Bush administration has adopted a hands-off policy for Abbas.

"We're certainly not going to advise the prime minister in terms of how he would proceed," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Tuesday.

Bush blamed Hamas for provoking the crisis. He framed the larger issue as a long-haul clash between good and evil in a world shadowed by terrorism.

As Olmert looked on before an Oval Office meeting, Bush seemed to suggest that whatever the near-term complications, history will bear out his commitment to democratic ideals.

"Extremists in the Middle East would be emboldened by the failure of those of us who live nice, comfortable existences not to help those who are struggling for freedom," Bush said. "So it's the great challenge of our time, and there will be forward moving, there will be setbacks."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE _ Anne Gearan covers diplomacy and foreign affairs for The Associated Press.