Well, if he will negotiate with the Taliban, why not with Hamas? Nonetheless, at some point, surely this becomes a violation of federal law — not that Obama is likely to care about that. And with Boehner on the verge of tears and capitulation across the aisle, and the mainstream media ever anxious to make him look good, there is absolutely nothing to hold him accountable. “The U.S. Has Been Speaking To Hamas Through Back Channels For More Than Six Months,” by Sheera Frenkel, BuzzFeed, June 4, 2014 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):
JERUSALEM — United States officials have been holding secret back-channel talks with Hamas over the last six months to discuss their role in the newly formed unity government, according to two senior diplomatic sources with direct knowledge of the talks.
The meetings were held between U.S. intermediaries and Hamas’ leadership, which lives outside the Gaza Strip in third-party countries ranging from Egypt to Qatar and Jordan. Topics included the ceasefire agreement with Israel and the recently formed unity government between Hamas and Fatah.
During the talks, Hamas gave assurances that allowed the U.S. to support the unity government, despite heavy pressure by the Israeli government for them to condemn it, the diplomatic officials — one American and one Palestinian — said. They said those assurances including a commitment to maintaining a ceasefire with Israel.
“Our administration needed to hear from them that this unity government would move toward democratic elections, and toward a more peaceful resolution with the entire region,” said one U.S. official familiar with the talks. He spoke on condition of anonymity, as the U.S, government’s official stance is that it has not, and will not, talk to Hamas until certain preconditions are met. “It was important to have that line of communication,” the U.S. official said.
State Department deputy spokesman Marie Harf denied the talks. “These assertions are completely untrue,” Harf told BuzzFeed. “There is no such back channel. Our position on Hamas has not changed.”
Harf said she told a press briefing yesterday: “As you all know, Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization. The United States does not and will not provide it assistance. Per longstanding U.S. policy, we do not have any contact with Hamas. No members of Hamas and no ministers affiliated with Hamas, as I said, are part of this government.”
The U.S. government has categorically denied it was speaking to Hamas for years. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said in 2012 while she was still State Department spokesperson that claims that the U.S. and Hamas had a back channel were “bizarre.”
“I want to say here that these assertions are completely untrue. There is no such back channel. And our position on Hamas has not changed,” Nuland said in a press briefing. A State Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed that the U.S. would work with the new Palestinian government as needed.
“We are going to be watching (the government) very closely, as we said from day one, to absolutely ensure that it upholds each of those things it has talked about, that it doesn’t cross the line,” Kerry said. The U.S. has said that the new transitional government, led by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and with ministries run mostly by technocrats, represents a significant step toward ending a seven-year feud between the Palestinian political factions Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, which controls the West Bank.
Israeli officials slammed the announcement by Kerry, saying the U.S. was sanctioning terrorism….
45charlie says
Obama already has said he will deal with the Fatah -Hamas coalition.
Transmaster says
Well now the Sultan has demonstrated his brilliance as the preeminent backstabber in US foreign policy history.
John C. Barile says
Mr. Obama and his spokesmen [generic sense] are accomplished liars.
Jerry says
HBO and Hamas share a common goal, as per Article Seven of the “Hams “\Covenant”
( see English Copy at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp )
“… the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).”
It is always the deranged “misunderstanders of Islam” who are “acting alone”
So when they are “acting alone” they do so with the “Blessings” of
HBO and Mohammed. Thus Hamas, Al Qaeda, Boko Harram, the Muslim Brotherhood, Nidal Malik Hassan, and Bowe Berghdahl, HBO and the CAIR are all “acting alone”.
Charli Main says
ALL Muslims sing from the same song sheet, that’s why they are Muslims.
The only difference is, that some of these Muslims sing louder than others, with the full approval of their ” brothers” watching from the side lines.
Salah says
I think (and I could be very, very wrong) that when Hamas lost its mentor, the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, and in order for it to survive, a deal was made with Abbas. This means that Hamas will have to play by the rules of Abbas and that it won’t be able to wage any terrorist attacks on Israel anymore.
I hope I’m right.
45charlie says
Abbas is just as committed to Israel’s destruction as Hamas . nothing has changed.
45charlie says
They have just stopped fighting each other . They are now committed to join forces against Israel. This isn’t the first time they have done this.
joeb says
Further to this, as the Taliban are said to not be our enemy – according to Barry – why not let them open an office in Washington, fully paid for by US taxpayers? Why not? It would be a shining beacon for our two communities.
duh_swami says
“We are going to be watching (the government) very closely, as we said from day one, to absolutely ensure that it upholds each of those things it has talked about, that it doesn’t cross the line,” Kerry said.
I’m watching you closely…Whatcha gunna do John, if they ‘cross the line’? Got a plan?
Doug says
Oh, OK. Our leaders got assurances from Hamas. I guess everything will work out just fine then.
What morons!
el-cid says
It appears that the Obama administration has concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood and their cousins (e.g. Hamas) are legitimate political movements that will miraculously morph from Jihadist Terrorists into Democrats once they have real power and responsibility.
Personally, I think the Egypt example and the Gaza example should be sufficient to prove that that is NOT the case. The Muslim Brotherhood’s goal is creating a Muslim state across the entire Arab Muslim world and beyond if possible.
I think that a group such as Hamas is more akin to Stalinists or Nazis in their ideology, tactics, and goals and that any appeasement is a opening for them to take more power. The fact that Hamas has a goal to eliminate Jews should be a pretty clear red flag for most sane observers.
Unfortunately, I suspect that some representatives of the EU may also believe that Hamas can be turned into a viable, democratic group. We know what great judgement the Europeans have regarding these things (i.e. NOT). Most Germans thought that the Nazis were going to make things better. Did they get smarter?
If I were a moderate Muslim, these developments would be extremely annoying to me since it makes a mockery of the concept that there is a such a thing as moderate Muslim if the likes of Hamas get recognized by the US administration as moderates.
logdon says
More Harf truths?
john van Vliet says
We read all the things that Sheik Obama is doing and all the elected politicians sitting on the butt, doing nothing while halve the population is disagreeing with Washington……. I think it is time to impeach this lying leader and the other pundits, the should start investigate properly not by a commission here and a commission there. that is carbage. if those politicians have backbone they should take firmer action !!!!
They all talk and that is all while the country slides deeper and deeper in a huge dirty hole with no hope of recovery in many areas.
Something must be done to stop this socialist muslim in the (white) house !!!!