The most striking example of th[e] post-September 11 American penchant for choosing its allies unwisely, is the Bush administration's embrace of Fatah.
The US has lavishly supported it politically and financially, and has trained Fatah militias while opposing any Israeli military plan to defeat Fatah on the military or political battlefields.
The US has lavishly supported it politically and financially, and has trained Fatah militias while opposing any Israeli military plan to defeat Fatah on the military or political battlefields.
Just as the Clinton administration upheld Yasser Arafat even as he built his terror armies while negotiating with Israel, so the Bush administration upholds Mahmoud Abbas as he follows in Arafat's footsteps. While waxing poetic about his yearning for peace in his talks with Israelis and Americans, inside the PA [Abbas] supports terrorists, and in addresses to Arab audiences he explains that he shares the terrorists' strategic goal of destroying Israel.
On Thursday, Jordan's Al-Dustur daily ran an interview with Abbas [who] boasted about his refusal to accept Israel's Jewish identity. He argued that the only difference he has with Hamas - which he hopes will join Fatah in a unity government - is that he thinks that the use of violence against Israel is counterproductive today. As he put it, "At this present juncture, I am opposed to armed struggle because we cannot succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different."
Abbas bragged about his role as a terrorist in the 1960s and about Fatah's role as the founding father of modern terrorism. In his words, "We [Fatah] had the honor of leading the resistance and we taught resistance to everyone, including Hizbullah, who trained in our military camps."
[T]he US must redouble its efforts to seek out and cultivate the anti-jihadist forces in the Islamic world. Until it does so, rather than win the war, it will continue to stymied by the Musharrafs, Zardawis, Sharifs, Mubarak's and Abbases of the world who promote jihad while speaking of moderation, stability and democracy.
Abbas bragged about his role as a terrorist in the 1960s and about Fatah's role as the founding father of modern terrorism. In his words, "We [Fatah] had the honor of leading the resistance and we taught resistance to everyone, including Hizbullah, who trained in our military camps."
[T]he US must redouble its efforts to seek out and cultivate the anti-jihadist forces in the Islamic world. Until it does so, rather than win the war, it will continue to stymied by the Musharrafs, Zardawis, Sharifs, Mubarak's and Abbases of the world who promote jihad while speaking of moderation, stability and democracy.
[Jerusalem Post]
1 comment:
Much of this seems very true, but America is not alone in the world, even when W. Bush acts like it, and the rest of the world often seems to share the view of Jimmy Carter recently, that how Israel treats the Palestinians that live as neighbors and try to kill Israelis, is unjust. There will be no easy answers until the rest of the world chooses to hold Palestinians and Arab terrorists accountable for their acts against everyone, even Israelis. These are not freedom fighters because they enjoy much more freedoms when they leave the Israelis alone. I do not agree that Musharraf and Mubarak should be lumped in with the others. They have shown moderation and tried to work with America, but still they need to deal with factions within their own lands lest they find themselves at the wrong end of a terrorist bomb, and so they must temper their words and actions until they build some moderate momentum.
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