Not Exactly The Best That Money Can Buy

At this point it should be no surprise to anyone that Hamas has abducted, tortured, and executed--other Palestinians:

Severe human rights violations in intra-Palestinian clashes

2007 saw an increase in human rights violations committed by Palestinians against Palestinians, both in number and severity, as a result of the violent struggle waging between Fatah and Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The violence peaked in June, when Hamas seized control of the security apparatus in the Gaza Strip.

From the beginning of the year to mid-November, at least 344 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in the fighting between the factions. B'Tselem's figures indicate that at least 73 of the dead, 22 of them children, were not taking part in the hostilities and were killed during street fighting or from gunfire during demonstrations. Some three hundred of the dead were killed in the first six months of the year, the vast majority of them in the Gaza Strip. 160 persons were killed in June alone. The casualties occurred during violent clashes between members of the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus, most of whom belong to Fatah and are loyal to Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, and Hamas militias, headed by the Hamas Executive Force and the 'Iz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

Media reports and investigations by Palestinian and international human rights organizations indicate that in the weeks leading up to the Hamas takeover of the security apparatus in the Gaza Strip, the organization's militias abducted several senior members of the Palestinian Authority's security forces and executed them in cold blood without trial. Other PA security officials who were abducted were tortured. In some instances, they were shot in the legs as "punishment" before being released.

But don't you worry, Abbas and Fatah have gotten their fair share of executions in too:

During the week before and the week after the Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip, Fatah militia forces in the West Bank, spearheaded by the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, carried out revenge attacks against persons and institutions identified with Hamas. Here, too, abductions and executions took place, as well as torching and shooting businesses and charitable institutions linked with Hamas. In late June, these attacks diminished, only to pick up again to a lesser degree in the following months, especially in the Nablus District. In the weeks preceding and following the Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip, the PA's security forces failed to take any action against the militias in the West Bank.

Moderate, Shmoderate, Fatah is no differerent and no better than their fellow terrorists in Hamas--but that is not going to stop President Bush from doing whatever it takes to prop up the corrupt and incompetent Fatah terrorists and their "moderate" leader:

US President George W. Bush announced Tuesday that he would override a congressional ban and transfer $150 million to the Palestinian Authority.

The United States has committed more than $500 million in aid money to the PA for 2008, but concerns about terrorism and corruption have caused Congress to ban direct money transfers to the Authority. Bush spokesmen said it is "crucial" to shore up PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and to prevent the financial collapse of the PA.

Whatever happened to the good old days when you could count on the US to back and support real dictators--you know, the kind that ruled with an iron fist and were in control?

At least then you could assume that you were getting your money's worth.

Technorati Tag: Hamas and Fatah.