Watching Abbas (and Maliki in Iraq) reminds me too much of Alexander Kerensky defending Russia from Lenin or Franz von Papen dealing with the Nazis.
Not a bad historical comparison, though I believe Maliki has been "in power" in Iraq now longer than either Kerensky in Russia or van Papen in Germany. Of course, neither Kerensky nor van Papen had the world's strongest military helping them out.