Nigeria, Aug. 31 -- "The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him." - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter XXII (1513)

In April 2006, the Hamas-led new government of the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza appointed a new director-general to head the para-military "Executive Force" in charge of security in the Strip. The new director-general, Jamal Abu Samhadana, was no ordinary militant. He had lived for a majority of the preceding quarter century in exile, spent 19 months as a detainee of the Palestinian Authority, and was reportedly the second name on Israel's "most wanted" list. Gideon Meir, spokesperson at the time for Israel's Foreign Ministry, likened his appointment to...