Iran Contra 2.0: How the Bush Admin Lied to Congress and Armed Fatah

[Echo In Light]

Iran Contra 2.0: How the Bush Admin Lied to Congress and Armed Fatah to Provoke Palestinian Civil War Aiming to Overthrow Hamas

In its latest issue, Vanity Fair reports that the White House tried to organize the armed overthrow of the Hamas-led goverment after Hamas swept Palestinian elections two years ago. According to the article, the Bush administration lied to Congress and boosted military support for rival Palestinian faction Fatah in the aim of provoking a Palestinian civil war they thought Hamas would lose. Vanity Fair dubbed the episode “Iran Contra 2.0”—a reference to the Reagan administration’s funding of Nicaraguan Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran. We speak with David Rose, the journalist who broke the story.

AMY GOODMAN: As Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, arrives in the Middle East, Vanity Fair published a story that raises new questions about the Bush administration’s role in the ongoing crisis. The article reports the White House tried to organize the armed overthrow of the Hamas-led government after Hamas swept Palestinian elections two years ago. According to Vanity Fair, the administration boosted military support for rival Palestinian faction Fatah in the aim of provoking a Palestinian civil war they thought Hamas would lose. Vanity Fair dubbed the episode “Iran Contra 2.0,” a reference to the Reagan administration’s funding of Nicaraguan Contras by covertly selling arms to Iran.

A former top Bush administration official said he believes Hamas’s seizure of power in Gaza last year may have likely been a preemptive measure against the anticipated US-backed coup. The official, David Wurmser, served as Vice President Cheney’s Middle East adviser until he resigned in July of 2007, a month after Hamas took over. Wurmser said, “There is a stunning disconnect between the President’s call for Middle East democracy and this policy. It directly contradicts it.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/5/iran_contra_20_how_the_bush

[L. Coyote]

1. WE need a new Boland Amendment, outlawing secret overthrows of democracy.

How many secret wars are there?

How many secret overthrows are in process?

How many are attacking democracies?

Is the whole world one huge wingnut secret war on the left now?

Will Bush follow in Dad's jail cell? or share it? or save his arse from jail?

George Bush Sr. May Face Charges: Conspiring to Kidnap and Murder Political Activists
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2459135