'CIA' attempted to contact Hamas despite official US ban, spy cables reveal.(Guardian).
The CIA tried to gain access to Hamas through backchannels despite a US government ban on contact with the Palestinian Islamist movement, the spy cables show.
They suggest US intelligence has been anxious to make inroads with Hamas, or recruit agents, inside the Gaza Strip. The US designated Hamas, which won the last Palestinian election in 2006 and now runs Gaza, as a terrorist group in 1997. When Barack Obama became president in 2008, there was speculation that he might seek to establish contact, but this proved short-lived.
Despite an official ban on contact, a CIA officer discussed with a South African intelligence agent the possibility of gaining access to Hamas in 2012, the leaked documents disclose. (Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has had strong relations with both Fatah and Hamas, though the Palestinian Authority has voiced its disapproval at the Hamas links.)
The US and South African agents met in East Jerusalem amid violent clashes between Hamas and Israeli forces. According to a cable sent to Pretoria on 29 June 2012, the CIA agent “seems to be desperate to make inroads into Hamas in Gaza and possibly would like SSA [the South African State Security Agency] to assist them in gaining access”. Hmmmm.....What a coincidence....The 2012 Democratic platform 'advocated' to talk to Hamas, until the press got wind of it, so please don't blame the CIA! Read the full 'story' here.
From the Republican Jewish Coalition's Twitter feed via Yid With Lid, we discover some missing language about Israel in the 2012 (compared with 2008) Democratic party platform.
Comparing the language of the 2008 Democratic Party Platform and the 2012 Democratic Party Platform a key section was removed.
Below is the section missing from the 2012 document. Pay special attention to the areas in bold:
The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel's right to exist, and abides by past agreements. Sustained American leadership for peace and security will require patient efforts and the personal commitment of the President of the United States. The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel. All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel.The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.
The United States should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism. By removing this sentence, is Obama preparing to give this group legitimacy? He has already done it with Hamas' parent group, the Muslim Brotherhood which took over Egypt. Hamas' partner in the U.S., CAIR continues to be accepted by, and promoted by liberal members of Congress despite an FBI warning.
Even Alan Dershowitz an Obama apologist is concerned about the omission, he told the Daily Caller:
““I think one shouldn’t give too much weight to platform pronouncements, but in this case, I think the omissions are troubling — particularly the omission about the Palestinian refugee issue and Hamas are, I think, deeply troubling,”
Dem platform and Obama still recognize Hamas.HT: InfidelBloggers.
Also left out of the Dem platform, and NOT ADDRESSES OR RESTORED:
"The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements"
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