While I applaud Ms. Lindsey Gay's efforts to broach a thorny and difficult subject in her column this week, "Bush's double-edged sword," I cannot agree with her simplification of the ascendancy of Hamas to political power.
Citing President Bush's support for the Fatah Party as the major determining factor belies the complex issues that define every aspect of politics throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East.
This is a tremendously complicated issue involving corruption, goals, the seeming stagnancy of the ruling party, the loss of its standard-bearer, and resentment over the long periods of time between elections.
It also involves support for the swelling anti-Americanism in the region, which is often a result of the mistakes and policies of President Bush.
These are tremendously complex issues, and no matter how much we desire it, politics is very rarely a realm where simplicity defines the issue.
Ms. Gay acknowledges the difficult decisions we face in the aftermath, but the origins of this action remain just as complex.
As much as we want simple, clear-cut solutions, and clamor for "Health care for everyone," "better education for all students," and "making America safe and secure," these are issues that deserve every inch of your column space.
-George McAleese
Political science junior
Before Tempe gets too caught up in capturing its share of the gay dollar (and let's be honest, it's the dollar that the city is interested in, not the gay community), they should first make sure that its own residents can walk down Mill Avenue without someone yelling "fag" out their car window.
-Nathan Dickman
Landscape architecture major
