State Dept Intel Tracked Rising Popularity of Hamas (yet Condi surprized)

[rodeodance]

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

March 03, 2006
State Dept Intelligence Tracked Rising Popularity of Hamas

"I don't know anyone who wasn't caught off guard by Hamas' strong showing," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, referring to the landslide victory of the Islamic Hamas party in the January 25 Palestinian elections. Hamas won 76 out of 132 seats in the Palestinian legislature, compared to 43 seats for the ruling Fatah party.

"I've asked why nobody saw it coming and I hope that we will take a hard look, because it does say something about perhaps not having had a good enough pulse on the Palestinian population," she told reporters on January 29.

It sounded like a confession of another failure of U.S. intelligence, having been stymied once again by the intricacies of Middle Eastern politics.

But despite Secretary Rice's odd protestations, no one did a better job of tracking the growing popularity of Hamas than the State Department's own intelligence analysts.