If you answered that ALL the Fatah militants were carrying U.S. made M-16 rifles, the standard duty rifle for U.S. troops since Vietnam, you win today's grand prize.
This weapon is the hallmark of U.S. involvement in a war. Go to the Bay of Pigs and you will still find their spent shells in the sand. They are too expensive, require too much maintenance, and are too difficult to acquire for most would be guerrillas. Quite simply, our government had to supply them to these fighters.
By contrast, look at the weapons wielded by Hamas fighters. They all carry the ubiquitous AK-47, the dirt cheap and extremely reliable Soviet assault rifle faced by U.S. troops in so many conflicts over the years.
Just because no U.S. troops are fighting in Palestine at the moment doesn't mean we don't have a dog in this fight. We need only listen to the smug statements of our representatives in the region to know that this violence is part of the larger War of Terror. We have opposed Hamas since the beginning of their ascendancy, needling them with the economic sanctions and silent treatment so characteristic of the Bush Administration. Now we fund their enemies in a feeble attempt to topple the democratically elected government. Do we expect them to behave better now that they have routed our proxies?
