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WHEN ONE ARAB CIVIL WAR ISN'T ENOUGH. Not content with baby-sitting the civil war in Iraq, the United States, according to recent reports, has been quietly inserting itself into the growing conflict between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza and the West Bank. According to The San Francisco Chronicle:
The Chronicle has obtained a training manual distributed to officers of the Al-Haras Al-Rayassi, Abbas' Presidential Guard, during a two-week course held in Jericho earlier this year at which the chief instructor introduced himself as a U.S. Secret Service officer who served during the Reagan administration. The manual, titled "Advanced Protective Operations Seminar," is emblazoned with the logo of the Counterterrorism Training Group, which includes the U.S. government seal.Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth after news of the training sessions leaked out that since Iran is helping arm and fund Hamas political and military activities, the United States wants to prevent "moderate forces" in the Palestinian territories from being eliminated."We are involved in building up the Presidential Guard, instructing it, assisting it to build itself up and giving them ideas. We are not training the forces to confront Hamas," Dayton told Yedioth. "Hamas is receiving money and arms from Iran and possibly Syria, and we must make sure that the moderate forces will not be erased," Dayton said....The United States had helped train the initial security forces, but ended its aid when the Palestinian uprising called the intifada began in September 2000....On Dayton's advice, the U.S. training program began again over the summer.Not that this looks like any kind of developing proxy war or anything. No sirree. And I'm sure there won't be any kind of blow-back for Americans or Israelis at any point over the next few decades, either. That never happens.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
