Jan 26, 2006

The Palestinian elections on Jan. 25, 2006 produced an "earthquake," as reported in today's news. The "militant" and "terrorist" political party, HAMAS, appear to have won the elections. Coming on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke and coma on Jan. 4, along with Iran's decision Jan. 3 to resume its nuclear program, it is not hard to see that momentous events are occurring.

First, let me say one thing about Hamas. Once in a great while, if read the fine print in newspapers, you will learn that Hamas was founded largely by Israeli Intelligence (or lack of it) in order to provide a counter weight to Arafat's PLO. One such article was from UPI dated June 18, 2002 entitled, "Analysis: Hamas history tied to Israel," by Richard Sale, UPI Terrorism Correspondent. It reads in part,

"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon immediately vowed to fight 'Palestinian terror' and summoned his cabinet to decide on a military response to the organization that Sharon had one described as 'the deadliest terrorist group that we have ever had to face'. . .

"But Sharon left something out.

"Israel and Hamas may currently be locked in deadly combat, but, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.

"Israel 'aided Hamas directly--the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization),' said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies...

"But with the triumph of the Khomeini revolution in Iran, with the birth of Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorism in London, Hamas began to gain strength in Gaza and then in the West Bank, relying on terror to resist the Israeli occupation.

"Israel was certainly funding the group at that time. One U.S. intelligence source who asked not to be named said that not only was Hamas being funded as a 'counterweight' to the PLO, Israeli aid had another purpose: 'To help identify and channel towards Israeli agents Hamas members who were dangerous terrorists' ...

"In the end, as Hamas set up a very comprehensive counterintelligence system, many collaborators with Israel were weeded out and shot...

"But even then, some in Israel saw the benefits to be had in trying to continue to give Hamas support. 'The thinking on the part of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the others, if they gained control, would refuse to have any part of the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place,' said a U.S. government official who asked not to be named.

" 'Israel would still be the only democracy in the region for the United States to deal with,' he said."

"All of which disgusts some former U.S. intelligence officials...

"According to former State Department counter-terrorism official Larry Johnson, 'The Israelis are their own worst enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism.'

" 'The Israelis are like a guy who sets fire to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting it with a hammer.'

" 'They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than to curb it,' he said." [End of quote]

COMMENT: There is no doubt that many right-wing Israelis are very happy with Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections. That way, they have an excuse to stop the peace process dead in its tracks.

Back on July 23, 2002, just as Hamas was close to agreeing to a cease fire with the Israelis, the Israelis chose to do an air strike on an apartment in Gaza that killed a Hamas leader, along with 13 others, including 9 children. One might say that they are really stupid, or they really did not want a cease-fire and knew precisely how to scuttle it.

In fact, throughout the summer of 2002 the Israelis invaded the West Bank and destroyed much of Palestine's governmental infrastructure and police system. (That left Hamas as the only real police force to keep down crime.) Why did they do such a thing? Their stated reasons were just so much blah-blah-blah. The real reason was to bring instability to the PLO government of Arafat and thereby indirectly strengthen Hamas. So the Israelis have been using Hamas since the beginning to scuttle the peace process, because they seek an excuse to go to war, kill or expel more Palestinians, and grab more land. That is the nature of Likud Zionism today.

And who pays for all of this? Uncle Sam pays cash on the barrel at the demand of the Evangelicals and Jewish interest groups. But the real cost is Israeli and Palestinian blood. These Zionists only regret that they have but 12 million lives to give for their country.

So the region continues to slide into open war.

For a full review of the above article, go to:

http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=18062002-051845-8272r