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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Former U.S. officer training Hamas military |
| 2008-06-25 |
| GAZA CITY — U.S. volunteers with military backgrounds have been recruited to help train the new Hamas army in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said one of the Americans was former U.S. Army captain Fares Al Ashi. 'This information is important for the youth,' Al Ashi said during a briefing to visiting journalists in Gaza City. The sources said Al Ashi, a specialist in explosives and weapons, had been trained in South Carolina during his years with the U.S. military. 'We give them general information about the explosives, those manufactured locally and the Israeli ones, because those people always reach the dangerous places before we, the bomb squad, do.' Al Ashi and the other Americans were said to have been identified as Muslims who joined the U.S. military in the 1990s. The sources said the Americans relayed U.S. military methods and training to Hamas for its war against Israel. The Hamas army has been equipped and trained by Iran. But Palestinian sources said some Muslims in the United States have provided funding and expertise to the new Hamas regime and military. In May 2008, Hamas police launched a police training program assisted by the U.S. trainers. The four-month training course has been directed by Maj. Khalil Hejo and seven other officers. 'In the past, a brigadier general used to run this administration in addition to 250 officer trainers, but now, seven trainers and I oversee the whole program,' Hejo said. If Ashi truly was an officer in the US Army, he has to be a US citizen. Non-citizens can elist but only citizens can be commissioned. |
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #8 Joe nails it this time! (again) |
| Posted by: Muggsy Gling 2008-06-25 21:52 |
| #7 HMMMMM.... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-06-25 18:13 |
| #6 Same as Creretch. Also, who were part of the elite Presidential Guard, (...) embarrassing defeat when Hamas overran Fatah forces in Gaza last year. Again, "elite" seems to have a different meaning in some places, more akin to "political reliability", I guess. Btw, how come I've noticed the "elite" tag is seldom applied not only to say US special forces types, but also never to british royal marines or 2nd REP or similar western first-lines troops??? Would I detect a very, very subtly hidden bias from news agencies fawning over insurgents and hard boyz??? Gee. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-06-25 16:01 |
| #5 If Ashi truly was an officer in the US Army, he has to be a US citizen. Non-citizens can elist but only citizens can be commissioned. Well for reserve commission it is - (1) he is a citizen of the United States or has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.); |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-06-25 15:48 |
| #4 Lessons learned? |
| Posted by: Creretch McGurque4847 2008-06-25 15:46 |
| #3 Looks like he was a Fatah guy in Gaza who switched over while the getting was good. Doesn't appear he's an American or a former US officer. (IsraelNN.com) Fares Al-Ashi, who was trained by Americans in South Carolina when Fatah controlled Gaza security forces, is using his education to teach Hamas loyalists to be martyrs, according to the Chinese new agency Xinhua. He said he gives his trainees information about explosives as part of a new Hamas police training program. The "martyr Aziz Massoud" course is named after a terrorist, one of the police trainers, who was killed in an IDF strike in February. "Every program should carry the name of a martyr," Al-Ashi said The United States has trained hundreds of Fatah "militia" members who were part of the elite Presidential Guard, a private army that was envisioned as protecting Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas form a Hamas coup. However, the Americans suffered an embarrassing defeat when Hamas overran Fatah forces in Gaza last year. A training manual distributed by American Secret Service officers, with the logo of the Counterterrorism Training Group and the U.S. government seal, was a teaching manual for Al-Ashi and other former Fatah terrorists who switched to Hamas. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-06-25 15:18 |
| #2 it could also be possible he's a plant. Though why a plant would talk to the press is still one ive got to figure out |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-06-25 15:02 |
| #1 It is possible that a) he renounced his citizenship, b) he never really was an officer, or c) he is a citizen and therefore a traitor. |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-06-25 14:45 |