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Jewish World Review May 3, 2005 / 24 Nissan, 5765 With White House warming-up to Hamas, are we pushing a little too hard, fast for Arab democracy?
By
Daniel Pipes
Some very disturbing facts Before this whitewashing of Hamas proceeds too far ahead, it bears noting that the organization has not just murdered over four hundred Israelis but also prepared itself for war with the United States. The ideological justification for war is in place. In 2003, Hamas declared President George W. Bush "Islam's biggest enemy" and in 2004 it called him "the enemy of G-d, the enemy of Islam and Muslims." A 2004 press release announced that "Hamas considers the U.S as an enemy and as an accomplice to the Israeli enemy aggression against the Palestinians. … The U.S will face responsibility for its position as an accomplice with Israel." Hamas logistical cells could be quickly turned operational. By early 2002, Eli Lake has revealed in the New York Sun, the FBI concluded that 50 to 100 trained Hamas and Hezbollah agents "had already infiltrated America" where they worked "on fundraising and logistics," but Dennis Lormel, formerly in FBI counterterrorism, notes that these cells "have the potential of being operational." FBI director Robert Mueller reaffirmed the threat in February 2005: "Although it would be a major strategic shift for Hamas, its United States network is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in the United States." According to a senior government counterterrorism official, Hamas could be merging with elements of Osama bin Laden's "all inclusive military arm" and the two together then "carry out military strikes" against the United States. "They have operations planned for here, they have the capabilities to strike at will and when the time is right they will do it." Counterterrorism specialist Boaz Ganor notes that "Hamas formally does not engage, and does not intend to engage, in a terrorist attack on American soil. But I think it is not inconceivable that Hamas would change its strategies, and they would like to be ready for that option." Hamas has gone global. Reports indicate it is active, planning attacks against American forces, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. Of particular note, it was a Palestinian with possible ties to Hamas, Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim Ali, who shot three American corrections officers at a prison in Kosovo in April 2004. Palestinian anger could prompt violence in the United States. Ken Piernick, who had headed the FBI counterterrorism efforts against Hamas, told the New York Sun: "In time, a very volatile and vitriolic hostility brewing in Gaza in particular will slowly suffuse itself to Hamas and Hezbollah cells in America. In the past couple of years we have already seen inflammatory rhetoric from their supporters in the United States. At some point in time it's like the glass rod will snap." Potentially violent Hamas operatives in the United States have already turned up.
Hamas, in short, can at will attack the United States, something that should not be forgotten. President Bush stated in June 2003 that "the free world, those who love freedom and peace, must deal harshly with Hamas" and that "Hamas must be dismantled." That approach should remain U.S. policy.
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JWR contributor Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum.
© 2005, Daniel Pipes
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