Soccer Dad

Hamas shimmers

From SNL:

Wife: It's a floor wax, I'm telling you!

Husband: It's a dessert topping, you cow!

Spokesman: [ enters quickly ] Hey, hey, hey, calm down, you two. New Shimmer is both a floor wax and a dessert topping! Here, I'll spray some on your mop.. [ sprays Shimmer onto mop ] ..and some on your butterscotch pudding. [ sprays Shimmer onto pudding ]

[ Husband eats while Wife mops ]

Husband: Mmmmm, tastes terrific!

Wife: And just look at that shine! But will it last?

Howard Schneider of the Washington Post:

Hamas is, at once, a political party, a paramilitary group that targets Israeli civilians and troops, a provider of charitable services, and a religious organization.

Actually if it is "...a paramilitary group that targets Israeli civilians ..." then it is, by definition, a terrorist group. No associated classifications deflect from that reality. But this is a typical journalistic attempt to downplay the nature of Hamas.

The subject of the report that spurred the above characterization of Hamas, is about a meeting between former Ambassador Thomas Pickering and some members of Hamas.

To Hamas officials Bassem Naim and Mahmoud al-Zahar, a recent meeting in Switzerland with a former senior U.S. diplomat represented an opening in relations with the Obama administration, and a path to easing the Islamist group's isolation.

"I hope it will be the beginning of addressing some of the mistakes of the last three years," Naim said of his talks with Thomas R. Pickering, a former undersecretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "This was a first meeting to investigate the positions in general terms of both parties without any commitment on any side."

U.S. officials say they see the previously undisclosed June meeting between Pickering and the two senior Hamas officials differently. They said Pickering had not been asked to approach Hamas and had no official standing; U.S. officials learned of the meeting only afterward. Policy toward the Islamist group, they said, remains what it was under President George W. Bush: that Hamas is a terrorist organization with which the United States will not even sanction a meeting.

Pickering now is a member of the International Crisis Group, so it is conceivable that he made this contact on his own. (Robert Malley who is with ICG was associated with the Obama campaign until his contacts with Hamas were revealed.)

On the other hand, prior to the inauguration, a number of Americans made a trip to meet with President Assad in Syria. And only a few weeks ago the Obama administration announced that it was seeking to send an ambassador to Damascus. It looks as if the "unofficial" contact with Syria was a prelude to diplomatic engagement.

While the administration seemingly tried to deflect criticism of its Middle East policies with Secretary Clinton's speech yesterday, I wonder if the President's enthusiasm for engagement is behind the Hamas meeting with Pickering, despite the administration's denials.

Crossposted on Yourish.