Vanity's Fair?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - (Blog) March 5, 2008 - 7:44pm

A well-timed Vanity Fair expose caused a flap on the first day of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the Middle East. The article, "The Gaza Bombshell," by David Rose, cited confidential documents and interviews to allege that the Hamas takeover stemmed from a secret Bush administration plan to use Fatah security forces to confront Hamas. Hamas, the article said, caught wind of the plan and acted before Fatah could, seizing the Gaza Strip.

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Let's Help The Good Guys In The West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Walter Isaacson - (Opinion) March 5, 2008 - 7:43pm

The rocket attacks on Israel launched by Hamas militants in Gaza, coupled with Israel's retaliation, have disrupted peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This is a great victory for the radicals in Hamas, who never wanted such talks. While visiting the region this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to remind everyone that the real goal is to weaken Hamas.

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In the Washington Post, an opinion by Walter Isaacson reemphasizes the need to strengthen the Fatah leadership in the West Bank (1) while a blog response by Glenn Kessler examines claims made in a recently published Vanity Fair article (2). The Media Line reports that Hamas has rejected an Arab-League proposal for truce with Israel (6). An interview with former ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer in Middle East Progress sheds light on how the US can lead forward from gaza (10). An editorial in the Daily Star examines how effective US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can be in making peace talks work (12).

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