Remember all that administration talk about democracy in the Middle East?..

The United States, along with much of the rest of the world, has leapt to support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he has tried to consolidate power and avert all-out civil war with his Islamist Hamas rivals.

The choice elevates short-term political expediency, and Bush's imperative to fight terrorism and extremism, above pure principle. The administration has brushed off questions about whether Abbas' actions are undemocratic, but that doubt hangs over Washington's repeated assertions that Abbas' new government is legitimate and his actions justified.

Abbas evicted Hamas radicals from his government over the weekend and is now the sole elected figure running the Western-backed Palestinian government in the West Bank...

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and now a Mideast analyst at the New America Foundation in Washington, said the administration knows it risks the appearance of hypocrisy. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may be trying a little too hard to buck up Abbas, he added.

"Thou dost protest too much," Levy said. "If this is all so legitimate and democratic, why do you have to say that 10 times?.."

For the complete article, please visit the Associated Press website.