"Our man" in Gaza

Today's arrival of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem coincides with the publication of a Vanity Fair article, "The Gaza Bombshell," which takes a critical look at the Bush administration's Middle East policies.

In short, author David Rose contends that the Bush administration's plan to arm and train Palestinian fighters loyal to PA President Mahmoud Abbas backfired and led to the Hamas takeover of Gaza.

The article is a good read, though there aren't any substantive new revelations.

(After Hamas took control of Gaza last June, I joined Warren Strobel, our State Department correspondent, in writing a piece, "How U.S. policy missteps led to a nasty downfall in Gaza," that covered much of the ground Rose travels in Vanity Fair...)

Rose's piece does have some compelling details for those obsessed with Middle East intrigue:

1. "That damned iftar."

Rose reports that Rice tried to persuade Abbas to dissolve the Hamas government in October, 2006, but that Abbas asked for more time because they were in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"That damed iftar has cost us another two weeks of Hamas government," Rice reportedly complained to an aide.

2. The following month, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the Bush administration point man on PA security, met with Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan as part of a plan to beef up his forces.

"We...need you to build up your forces in order to take on Hamas," Dayton reportedly told Dahlan.

Dahlan was known as America's "guy" in Gaza. He was the charismatic strongman willing to do "what it took" to impose order and fight Hamas.

(Dahlan is now living in Cairo and has most recently been accused of trying to foment an internal Fatah political revolt against Abbas.)

Rose compares the U.S. plan to boost Abbas and Dahlan's forces to the Iran-Contra scandal, which, even he is forced to concede, is a bit of a stretch.

"It is impossible to say for sure whether the outcome in Gaza would have been any better — for the Palestinian people, for the Israelis, and for America’s allies in Fatah — if the Bush administration had pursued a different policy," Rose writes in his piece. "One thing, however, seems certain: it could not be any worse."