About Time
Last week King Abdullah raised fears of a Palestinian civil war. This week, Abbas has had it with Hamas and appears to be precipitating a crisis. He wants our help.
The Palestinian people have had a harsh lesson in democracy this year, as have the Lebanese and the Iraqis. They’ve learned … or rather, have been provided the opportunity to learn … that when you vote a terrorist organization into power, it can have dire, predictable results. War, economic deprivation and international isolation. But hey, that’s democracy. You asked for it, you got it.
Hamas provoked open warfare with Israel, and Gaza was laid waste. Hezbollah provoked open warfare with Israel, and Lebanon was laid waste. Moqtada al-Sadr, a key power behind the ruling coalition in Iraq, calls the shots there. Shiite terrorists use the Iraqi Security Services to their own ends and Shiite death squads run rampant. The continued existence of al-Sadr, not to mention as the leader of a faction in government, may be the single most critical factor in the ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq.
It remains to be seen what game Abbas, politically marginal despite his status as president, is playing now. Short-term, unserious angling or a major gambit? An outburst of gang-on-gang violence is to be expected, but does it spread into open factional warfare? Have the Palestinian people at last figured out that Hamas does not have their long-term interest at heart, and is Abbas gambling that they are ready to ditch these unrepentant terrorists?
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Posted by Jules Crittenden at 2:58 pm on Friday, December 1, 2006
One Response to “About Time”
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December 1st, 2006 at 8:49 pm
At this point, I figure Abbas is just angling for survival. Hamas seems to be far more ruthless than Fatah. Unless Fatah folds completely, I look for civil war there, and maybe that’s what it’s going to take to drive the Palestinians into the 21st century.
As for Sadr, our guys should have killed him when they had the chance. Unfortunately, their hands were tied by the timidity of politicians, and, as usual, we pay the price.