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...Arafat's autocratic control over the security forces and his disregard for the rule of law and human rights when he was rounding up masses of Hamas activists in 1996 following a campaign of bombings by the organization inside Israel. And far from complaining about his personal control over PA funds, Israel was in fact paying half of the revenues due to the PA into accounts personally controlled by Arafat. It was only after Arafat failed to accept the terms offered by the Israelis at Camp David, and instead encouraged a renewed intifada, that his personal power was raised...
...Even when Arafat died, and was replaced as President by Abbas after an election that was hardly competitive (Hamas didn't run), the U.S. continued to press for democratization, insisting that the PA go ahead with new legislative elections despite Israel's misgivings and warnings from the Fatah leadership that elections would weaken their position. And sure enough, Hamas took the opportunity to contest its first-ever PA elections, which it won handily as the electorate repudiated Abbas's party for its rampant corruption and its failed political strategy...
...produced the "wrong" result, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slammed the policy gears into reverse. For the past year, the Bush Administration has insisted that President Abbas take personal charge of the Palestinian security forces, and has blocked donors from paying any funds to the democratic institutions of the PA until Hamas accepts its demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Instead, it has called for support not for the democratically elected government of the Palestinians, but for President Abbas personally. The Administration has sought funds from Congress to create new Palestinian security forces answerable directly to Abbas...
...That sentiment was echoed by Theresa Sharratt, mother of Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 22, from Carbondale, Pa. "There's no way that I believe what's being said about that day," she told TIME. "He did what he was trained to do. They're Marines. That's their job. We're at war... He just feels let down. He hasn't told us that; I can see it in his eyes. He did his job and this is what happened...
DIED. Raymond Shafer, 89, former Pennsylvania Governor; in Meadville, Pa. He chaired Richard Nixon's Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse--which stunned Nixon by recommending legalizing pot in small amounts. Shafer was nicknamed Dudley Do-Right for well-intentioned efforts that sometimes got him in trouble...