Vanity Fair described its story this way:
"After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, the author reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever."
The Guardian, commenting on the Vanity Fair article, highlighted Dahlan's role:
"The central figure in Washington's plan was Mohammed Dahlan, who had been Yasser Arafat's security chief in Gaza and who had established close ties with the CIA as early as the 1990s. The magazine cites three unidentified US officials quoting Bush as saying: 'He's our guy.'"
The New York Times chose not to remind its readers that Dahlan is far more than an Abbas political rival. He is a former Fatah leader who was ousted from the party by Abbas.
In 2007, he was the U.S./Israel emporium's chosen Fatah operative assigned to punish Hamas for winning a free and open democratic 2006 election, which Hamas won not just in Gaza, but throughout the Occupied Territories.
The New York Times story, which began with a focus on criticism of Abbas by Palestinians, manages to find room to include this important information:
"In the two weeks since Mr. Abbas's opening salvo against Mr. Dahlan, who is living abroad, the Arabic media has been filled with unproved accusations by Mr. Abbas about the long-ago killings of prominent Palestinians, and by both men about collaboration with Israel and financial corruption.
"Mr. Abbas even implied that Mr. Dahlan might have had a hand in the mysterious death of Yasir Arafat, the father of the Palestinian cause, in 2004. For the most part, the two camps have not offered detailed responses to all the accusations."
To the New York Times, Dahlan was once seen as a successor to Abbas: "Mr. Dahlan, 52, rose from humble beginnings in a Gaza refugee camp to become a powerful figure in the Palestinian Authority who earned the trust of Israel and the United States. Some saw him as a potential successor to Mr. Abbas."
To President Bush, strongman Mohammed Dahlan is "our guy."
It is with good reason that President Abbas is insisting that one of the conditions for the PA to remain in peace discussions after the late April deadline is the release of more senior Palestinian prisoners.
Among the prisoners he specifically names is Marwan Barghouti, (shown here in a 2002 court appearance) considered by many as President Abbas' preferred successor.
The Times of Israel writes that in his recent visit with President Obama in Washington, President Abbas indicated that he is reluctant to continue talks with Israel. He did offer, however, conditions that could influence his decision:
"Abbas said he would need to receive something from the Israelis if he were to agree [to extend the talks]: a settlement freeze, and a further prisoner release -- beyond the fourth group of terror convicts scheduled to go free on March 29. ("Terror convicts" are not Abbas' words; they belong to the Times of Israel.)
"And not just any prisoners, but, according to the London Arabic newspaper al-Hayat, The Prisoner, Fatah Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti. Arab and Palestinian sources confirmed the reports to The Times of Israel."
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