Condoleezza Rice Doesn't Understand Terrorism

All week, national figures across the country have been beating up on former President Jimmeh Carter for his upcoming meeting with the leaders of Hamas. One of the main arguments against his meeting has been that it sends a mixed message about terrorism. Someone should send those remarks to the chief US spokesman on foreign affairs, Condoleezza Rice because she obviously DOESN'T GET IT! She has proved over and over that she doesn't understand terrorism.

Rice has compared the Fatah terrorist group to the struggle by African Americans for equal rights (and its present leader Abbas to Martin Luther King Jr.). And in the build-up to the peanut-brained, President Carter's trip to Syria Rice has called Hamas a resistance movement-AGAIN! HOW THE HELL CAN CONDOLEEZZA BE OUR CHIEF FOREIGN POLICY OFFICER IF SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT A TERRORIST IS?

Oops, she did it again!
Rice calls Hamas 'resistance movement' during unscripted remarks

By Aaron Klein

JERUSALEM – For at least the fourth time in recent months, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to the Hamas terrorist organization as a "resistance" movement during unscripted remarks with reporters, WND has learned.

This time, Rice was giving a free-ranging interview two weeks ago with the Washington Times when a reporter asked her about the wisdom of encouraging democracy in countries where radical Islamists could win elections, pointing as an example to Hamas, which won Palestinian elections two years ago.

Rice replied: "It's, I would say, still a story-in-progress on Hamas, in particular, because I think there's plenty of evidence now that one reason that Hamas went back to their bad old ways and took over the Gaza and overthrew the legitimate Palestinian Authority institutions is that actually they were failing at governance, and it's easier to be a resistance movement than to be a governing movement."

Her remarks are transcribed in full on the State Department website.

Reached for a statement, a State Department spokesman would not directly address Rice's comments but told WND the department labels Hamas a terrorist organization.

Hamas is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings and thousands of shooting attacks and rocket firings against Israeli civilian population centers. The group's official charter calls for the murder of Jews and quotes widely from the anti-Semitic creed, the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

Rice was one of several top American diplomats who criticized a controversial visit this week with Hamas by former President Jimmy Carter.

"I find it hard to understand what is going to be gained by having discussions with Hamas about peace when Hamas is, in fact, the impediment to peace," Rice told reporters earlier this week.

Her statement to the Washington Times was just the latest instance in which Rice referred to Hamas as a "resistance" organization.

WND reported last November Rice used the "resistance" label during a meeting with reporters from the Dallas Morning News.

"Hamas loved it when it could run the streets, faces covered, toting a few guns, and no responsibility for what happened to the Palestinian people. They were the great resistance force, and their only purpose in life was to threaten Israel," she said.

WND reported Rice similarly called Hamas a "resistance movement" in interviews with the New York Daily News and during an impromptu news conference she held in Berlin last year.

Rice's latest remarks were followed yesterday by Carter warmly embracing a top Hamas terrorist in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Carter attended a reception with Nasser Shaer, a senior Hamas leader. The reception was closed to the media, but according to participants and the Hamas leader, Carter hugged Shaer and kissed him on each cheek, the customary greeting for good friends. Many U.S. diplomats refrain from kissing Palestinian officials.

"He gave me a hug. We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception," Shaer told the Associated Press. "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."

Shaer previously served as deputy prime minister and education minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was toppled last year. He served time in Israeli prison after being charged with terrorist activities.

According to Israeli security officials, Shaer functioned as a financial and communications link between cells of the Hamas organization in Gaza and in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

In a WND exclusive interview earlier this week, Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, called Carter a "noble person" whose planned meeting with Hamas would help the terror organization "engage with the world community."

"Carter can achieve something no one else can. He is open-minded and has a very noble cause to come and meet with all people," said Yousuf, the chief political adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed prime minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Yousuf, the Hamas figure usually responsible for coordinating meetings with foreign officials, said Carter "should get credit because he is the one who really understands the (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict and knows what is needed to achieve peace."

He indicated Carter's visit could help end Hamas' international isolation.

"If he comes and meets Hamas, this will also enhance the image and understanding between America and the Muslim world," said Yousuf, speaking by phone from Gaza. "Carter's visit is a good step and a positive step in the right direction. It would engage with the world community. To what degree he succeeds depends on the people in Europe and the U.S."

Yousuf blasted the Bush administration for "trying to block every attempt to lift sanctions against Hamas."

He accused "Zionists" and U.S. Jewish groups of "trying to sabotage" Carter's Middle East trip. "Some reports said American Jewish groups tried to stigmatize him with being connected to terrorism or working against Jewish ambitions at home," Yousef said.