Bollocks. George Patton could have been SOS and Hamas would have won that election. Fatah was painfully corrupt, and had been throughout the Arafat period. Everyone in Palestine knew it. I only blame Condi's people for not signalling to her that Hamas was bound to win that election.
Once elected, no Arab nation was going to freeze them out. They had a popular mandate. Rice knew this going in. Forget what Debka is saying. This trip is about Iran, not Palestine.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
"I only blame Condi's people for not signalling to her that Hamas was bound to win that election.'
That's the problem. According to articles I have read, which seem to be accurate, Condi is consulting the Arabists and letting them run things. Those guys have a long, long track record of getting things wrong, possibly because they plan to collect retirement payments from Saudi Arabia. If an outsider can see that, why can't Condi?
Since here speciality is the Soviet Union/Russia, she needs advice. But it's her job to see that she gets reliable advisers.