Mar
Condi and Bush played cards wrong, put Hamas in power
PHOTO: Hamas supporters, eremi, flickr
Hamas’ current control of Gaza made the Bush administration extremely unhappy. When the group wrenched power from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a coup last year in the summer, sanctions were imposed on Gazans, supplies were stopped, funding from nations across the world stopped flowing in and the tiny territory was sealed off from the world for its choice in electing Hamas.
None of these events seem to be in line with the Bush administration’s loathing of Hamas, but an expose by Vanity Fair reveals that Hamas’ recent rise to power is because the Bush administration made some shockingly sloppy and perhaps senseless moves behind the scene.
Palestinians in Gaza voted in favor of Hamas in 2006 because they saw Fatah’s government as corrupt and ineffective. Having surreptitiously armed Fatah’s Muhammad Dahlan’s security forces to wield against Hamas, it appears the Bush administration just increased support for the group.
The whole scheme has backfired in the Bush administration’s face, not to mention created a lot more turbulence in an area that doesn’t look like it can take much more.
