Is Cheney's Office Orchestrating Fatah-Hamas Killings?

May 16 (EIRNS)--The resumption of internecine war among the Palestinians, killing many and bringing further instability to the region, was the handiwork of Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams, Mark Perry and Paul Woodward pointed out in an article in the Asia Times (May 16, 2007). Abrams, one of the last few neo-cons still in the Bush administration, was convicted in the Iran-Contra drugs-for-weapons scam in the late 1980s and is, in reality, the cat's paw of none other than Vice President Dick Cheney in Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

On April 30, the Jordanian weekly newspaper Al-Majd published a 16-page document, "Action Plan for the Palestinian Presidency," apparently based on the translation of a U.S. intelligence document, "Benchmarks," reportedly authored by U.S. General Keith Dayton, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones, and U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles. The Action Plan document outlined steps that would strengthen Palestinian Authority President and head of the Fatah, President Mahmoud Abbas, build up Palestinian security forces under his command, lead to the dissolution of the Palestinian Parliament, and strengthen U.S. allies in Fatah in a lead-up to parliamentary elections that Abbas would call for early this year.

The objective of the Action Plan document was to undermine Hamas, the largest political group in the PA Cabinet, who came to power through electoral success. Although the Jordanian authorities put a stop to the further publication of the document, Ha'aretz , on May 4, made available the Benchmarks document, which added to the tensions between the Palestinian factions.

Perry and Woodward's article quoted an Israeli official who said "Benchmarks" was the handiwork of Elliott Abrams, who is in essence in charge of the U.S. policy on Israel-Palestine affairs, wholly undermining U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Condi is not in charge of your Middle East policy, the Israeli official told the authors. Every time she turns around, Elliott Abrams is slapping her down. It is embarrassing, he said.

In the wake the Al Majd incident and the publication of the "Benchmarks" document in Ha'aretz , U.S. Secretary of State Rice abruptly cancelled her trip to Israel, citing political turmoil in the Israeli government. The fact, however, was not the turmoil in Tel Aviv, but the successful sabotage carried out by Cheney's office, through Elliott Abrams.