[E]lections have transformed Hamas into the government of the Palestinian territories, and elections have turned Hezbollah into a significant faction in Lebanon's parliament, from which it operates as a state within the state....

The Bush administration has rightly refrained from criticizing the region's only democracy, Israel, for its forceful response to a thousand rockets fired at its population.

—Columnist George Will in "Transformation's Toll"

Just what was it about the Palestinian and Lebanese elections that did not qualify them as democratic?

Tags: * democracy Palestinian Authority Hamas Hezbollah Lebanon PA George Will