The way has been cleared for a Jan. 3 meeting in Jordan between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.  It's billed as the first such direct contact between the two sides after more than a year of a deep freeze in the so-called peace process.  The United States, along with Russia, the European Union, the United Nations and Jordan, labored mightily for months to reach this milestone and, it is hoped, finally get the two sides back to the negotiating table. So what does Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, do on the eve of the Jordan talks?  He announces the appointment of Gen. Mahmoud Damara as his personal adviser.  Damara happens to be an arch-terrorist with a trail of bloody attacks on Israelis.  He was arrested and convicted by the Israelis for initiating shootings and bombings during the second intifada as a leader of Force 17, a special operations terror unit of Fatah, Abbas's political party.  While orchestrating attacks against...(Read Full Post)