Abbas Back Tracks, Now Wants New Relations With Hamas

This, folks, is what we call a "leader" running scared. The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is calling for renewed relations with Hamas even though he has staunchly said before that he would not talk with them unless they gave up the Gaza Strip. Hmmm...you don't suppose the fact that Iran's power play in Lebanon which has placed Hezbollah more or less in power there had anything to do with this "revelation" do you? Old Mahmoud (the Abbas one) has obviously seen the writing on the wall that the Persians are going to own the Middle East soon and he better at least be friendly with the winning team.

Here's the story from Breitbart with a snippet excerpted here:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for new dialogue with Hamas, in what appeared to be an about-face after insisting for a year that he would not talk with the Islamic militant movement unless it first gave up control of Gaza.
Hamas, whose gunmen seized the Gaza Strip by force last June, immediately welcomed the offer delivered by Abbas during a televised speech.

Bottom line is this: Abbas has decided that in the long run he is safer being an ally of Hamas and the rest of the world that has accepted him for turning his back on Hamas haven't really done him any favors. Here's the real reasons for the about face, from my perspective:

1. Abbas has seen Hamas get away with EVERYTHING in the past six months with little retribution from Israel and thus Abbas has actually come to fear Hamas more than Israel.

2. As mentioned above, the chances of more and more Iranian influence and power over the region grow each day and this is Abbas' chance to hitch a ride on the rising star of Ahmadinejad

3. Abbas has finally woken up to the "surround Israel" strategy of the Iranians that is intent on Hezbollah owning the northern border of Israel, the Syrians controlling the Golan Heights and Hamas having Gaza - the only piece of the puzzle missing is the West Bank and that is Abbasland - he in essence is a marked man if he doesn't change his allegiance.

Anyway, Abbas has flip flopped more in the past 5 years than John Kerry so this could change again but I'm sure we'll see some sickening group hugs between Fatah and Hamas once again and there will be Olmert watching, knowing he has wasted the past year talking to Abbas about peace.

Palestinian leader urges new dialogue with Hamas

Abbas gave no details about his proposal, including whether he would personally take part in talks or would seek mediation by Arab states. It also was not clear from his wording whether he had dropped all preconditions.
If Abbas were to start negotiating with Hamas, he could jeopardize the broad international support that he gained after Hamas seized Gaza in five days of fighting with Abbas' security forces. The West hoped its backing would lead the moderate Abbas to a peace deal with Israel.
But the Palestinian president has engaged in months of peace talks with Israel that have yielded no tangible results. Earlier Wednesday, Abbas' chief negotiator said it would take "a miracle" to meet the year-end target for a deal set by President Bush.
A close Abbas aide, Nimer Hamad, said circumstances dictate that the Palestinian factions resume dialogue.
"The failure of the peace process, the tragic situation in Gaza, the entire Palestinian situation require thinking courageously of an exit," Hamad said. "We hope that Hamas will respond positively to the call."
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu greeted Abbas' offer with warmth. "We welcome this call by the President Abbas to launch a national dialogue, and we consider it a positive step," he said.
Abbas' speech started off by criticizing Israel for continued construction in West Bank settlements and other acts that he said dampened peace hopes.
Then he called for a new "national dialogue" among Palestinians that could "end the internal division that harms our people, (our) cause."
Abbas said if talks succeed, "I will call for new legislative and presidential elections." Abbas won a presidential ballot to succeed Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, but Hamas swept Abbas' Fatah movement out of power in 2006 parliamentary elections.
Over the past year there have been several efforts, notably by Egypt and later by Yemen, to repair the rift between the rivals, but to no avail.
The lack of apparent progress in peace talks with Israel has troubled the Palestinian leader.