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Opinion: In today’s pages: Taking over — Gaza, Laos, and the second generation

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The editorial board thinks Hamas’ Gaza takeover is a disaster:

The emergence of ‘Hamastan’ between Israel and Egypt is an unqualified disaster for the world. It’s especially cruel for the 51% of the Palestinians in Gaza who did not vote for Hamas in 2006 but now find themselves living under an illegal, self-declared Islamic republic. This outcome is further evidence that President Bush has spent six years allowing a terrible foreign policy problem to grow unimaginably worse. The Hamas takeover is a victory for its key patron, Iran. The only consolation for the U.S. is that relations between Hamas and Al Qaeda, which does have some presence in Gaza, are poor.

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The board is pleased Congress is finally asking for answers about the Bush administration’s use of ‘alternative’ interrogation techniques, and urges Bush to allow his aides to testify on the record about U.S. attorney firings.

Columnist Niall Ferguson remembers the British maxim of divide and rule, and argues that the Middle East has plenty of the former and too little of the latter. Columnist Gregory Rodriguez says Los Angeles has to shift its focus from first generation immigrants to their children. Boston University professor Andrew J. Bacevich argues that a bigger army will only bring more problems, and Cal State Fullerton’s Jeffrey Brody recalls meeting Vang Pao twenty years ago, and reflects on the charges against him of plotting to overthrow the government of Laos.

Letter writers react to the tragedy at King-Harbor hospital. Washington state’s Gordon Tagge notes, ‘What we saw on the video at King-Harbor is healthcare delivered DMV-style. Is that really what we want?’

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