Mahmoud Abbas, the capo del tutti of Fatah is scheduled to be in DC today, meeting with President Obama on Middle East peace and -oh yes - that proposed $900 million aid package to the Palestinians pledged by the Obama Administration on our behalf that the Senate is now mulling over.
This is over and above the money they're already getting from us via UNRWA, USAid and the World Bank.
Aside from the dubious wisdom involved in shelling out well over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds to Abbas who is not even the legal president of the Palestinian Authority any longer, there's the slight problem that funding the Palestinian Authority openly flouts existing US law.
American law expressly prohibits funding of Palestinian buildings and projects that use any portion of their budgets to aid, promote, glorify or honor terrorists or terrorism. That's been an entrenched principle since Oslo. Yet Fatah and the Palestinian Authority have done exactly that with impunity for years, even under 'moderate' Mahmoud Abbas.
Samir Kuntar, the Lebanese child killer who was recently freed in a swap for the mutilated and tortured bodies of two Israelis kidnapped by Hezbollah was named an 'honorary Palestinian citizen' a mere two years ago while Abbas was in power. He was was publicly celebrated by ,Mahmoud Abbas,Israel's supposed peace partner, who referred to Kuntar as `heroic' and to his having won 'a big struggle.' The Palestinian media ran numerous programs touting him as a hero and role model.
Another Palestinian hero who's been honored as a role model and has had numerous US funded projects named after her is Dalal Mughrabi,who's remains were also part of the same swap that freed Kuntar.
She was the leader of what became known in Israel as the Coastal Massacre. On March 11, 1978, Mughrabi led a band of eleven terrorists who murdered several people in cold blood, including an American photographer, Gail Rubin. They then hijacked a bus filled with families going on an outing.
When the IDF unit managed to stop the bus, Mughrabi and her gang began shooting the helpless men, women and children at point-blank range and then firebombed the bus itself, turning it into a death trap. At least 35 were killed, including 13 children and a number of Americans.
In 2002, Fatah began building a girls' school in Hebron named after Mughrabi, funded by US money. When this came to light, the Palestinian Authority promised to change the name, but as soon as the school was completed, the name change was rescinded and the school is still named after Mughrabi as I write this.
She's also had a few streets and a number of other government institutions like summer camps named in her honor, and there have been a number of books, television and radio programs in the PA controlled media about her 'heroic martyrdom.' She's regarded by Palestinian Arabs as a role model.
Back in 2004, the US spent $400,000 of your tax money through USAid to construct the Salakh Khalaf soccer field.
Interesting fellow, Khalaf. He headed the Black September group that murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, and later tortured to death two American diplomats in the Sudan in 1973 on Arafat's orders, Cleo Allen Noel and George Curtis Moore.
Once that got out USAID publicly acknowledged the error and claimed they would demand that the name be changed. It never was.
Under existing US law and numerous precedents, the Palestinian Authority should have had its US funding yanked a long time ago.
But wait, there's more. On top of all this, the US is in the middle of a $350 million commitment to train, arm and fund a Fatah army. This effort is being directed by US general Keith Dayton, who's been working on this for two years. Apparently the last attempt which did so well in Gaza and resulted in Hamas obtaining millions of dollars in gently used ('only dropped once') American military equipment that it encouraged even more of an investment. Except this time, according to General Dayton the probable target isn't Hamas, but Israel.
Dayton, in a talk at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy talked about the three battalions of Fatah soldiers he's already trained and the plans for eight more.
And according to Dayton, unless the Israelis decide to commit national suicide by giving in to all of the Palestinian's demands, they could rebel...or in other words, they'll simply turn their weapons on Israel, something Abbas has eluded to a number of times .That's exactly what Abbas' old boss Yasir Arafat did before.
In other words, we're paying through the nose to build an army that could menace one of our allies in the hopes of creating a country...and one that, given the realities, will probably be ruled by Hamas as an Iranian proxy.
It's enough to make me want to vomit in disgust, frankly.
6 comments:
"Its enough to make me want to vomit in disgust, frankly." I agree wholeheartedly. This has been the major problem with the so called "war on terror" from the start. The inconsistencies and in some cases rank hyprocissy on the part of the American government make it almost impossible to win.
The "Palestinians" are a bitter enemy of America. It makes no sense to be giving them money. It will ultimately be used against us in the long run and with our massive national debt we really can't afford it any way.
Training these people is especially problematic. The "Palestinians" are already a very formidable fighting force. There is very little in terms of fighting tactics that they can learn from us, however, we run the risk of revealing our tactics to a bitter enemy. A bad move all the way around. Already America's long range survival is problematic. Aiding and abetting bitter enemies is not helpful and faces Aemrica's survival in even more danger.
"And according to Dayton, unless the Israelis decide to commit national suicide by givining into all of the Palestinian's demands they could rebel." The Israelis need to explain to General Dayton that they will destroy the Palestinians and their Army and should you get in the way we will destroy you to.
B.Poster- Where on earth did you get the idea that Palestinians are "a bitter enemy of America"?
Personally, I believe that people who think such a thing are a bitter enemy of America - not understanding the basic principles on which the country is based, and willing to condemn it to unending war because of a distorted view that equality is something to which only the "right" people are entitled. You need a remedial civics course, in my view.
Just offering another perspective...
An interesting perspective indeed, anonymous.
Now let me see...where would one get the idea that the Palestinians are the bitter enemy of America? Obviously not all of them are, but a significant majority fall in that catagory. Here are a few facts to chew on:
* the PLO/PA murders of a number of American citizens, including Leon Klinghoffer who was thrown overboard in his wheelchair on Arafat's orders ,the two American diplomats mentioned in the above story and three murdered US agents en route to Gaza on official business in which Arafat and the PLO were directly implicated.
* The Palestinian's support for Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War and Desert Storm and collaboration with Iraqi forces in the brutal occupation of Kuwait (that's why they were expelled en masse) .
*The widespread celebrations by Palestinians on 9/11 and the commemorations afterwards in their government controlled media* The majority Palestinian support for Hamas, an Iran proxy. And remember, Iran is an enemy of the US who has killed US soldiers and by its own admission has been in a state of war with us for over thirty years. I would also mention that as an Islamist organization, Hamas and its parent organization the Muslim Brotherhood are not only genocidal when it comes to Jews worldwide ( read the Hamas charter sometime)but de facto enemies of America's Constitution and freedoms. What was that about a civics course somebody needs?
* Consistent failure to abide by any of the agreements made with the US regarding terrorism, incitement in media, or transparency in how aid is spent.
There's lots more I could mention, but that will do for starters.
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but the 'different perspective' you seem to embrace is that everything is Israel's fault and that if we just stopped being their ally, everything would be rosy with the Muslim world.
That perspective is indeed popular in some circles, but people whom embrace it need to learn some history and at least a little bit about Islamism.If Israel disappeared tommorow, very little in basic attitudes would change, and Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran's quest fo rnuclear weapons with all that entails is not going to go away.
Think about it.
Regards,
Rob
Rob,
Re: Anonymous( there's the first clue to this guy's courage)
I concur in everything you said(Rob, not Anon.)except your use of the term IslamismThe problem is Islam.Pure and simple.
Just my two cents.
Hi CA, how are you?
Thanks for the kind words.
Believe it or not, there are a number of Muslims who despise Hezbollah, Hamas, the Ikhwan(Muslim Brotherhood)and the current Iranian regime and want nothing more than to live in peace with us. Some of them are linked on my site.For that matter, there are Muslims that serve in the IDF, believe or not, the Circassians and Bedouin.
Unfortunately, they are not a majority, but to lump all Muslims together is to make a grave error in judgement, IMO.
Regards,
Rob
Anonymous,
You ask where I got the idea that the Palestinians are bitter enemies of America. Its pretty simple really. Their words and their deeds give them away. These are bitter enemies of America who are at least as dangerous as Nazi Germany ever was. While I'm NOT saying we should necessarily fire bomb their strongholds, as the Greatest Generation did to Nazi Germany, we must recognize these people for what they are and that is a bitter enemy of America that cannot be appeased at any price.
Frankly, our best bet right now is to withdraw all men and military equipment from the Middle East as soon as it can be withdrawn and redeploy it to the American borders. A moratorium on immigration from Muslim countries should be placed in effect immediately and it should be indefinite. A moratorium on immigration from all countries should be placed in effect to last a minimum of ten years.
Work visas for some members of other nations are probably acceptable but the persons coming into the US should be closely monitored and they should not be allowed to stay beyond the time the Visa allows. Other nations do this. The United States has as much right to defend itself as these other nations do.
In summary, while the "Palestinians" pose at least the threat to Aemrica that Nazi Germany did the way to deal with it in the early 21st century may be radically different than how the Greatest Generation dealt with Nazi Germany. The suggestions I propse above have a reasonable chance to work and they do not involve fire bombing anyone.
Finally, it makes no sense to fight Islamic Terrorism in places like Afghanistan and Iraq while rewarding it in places like Lebanon and "Palestine." In order to defeat Islamic Terrorism we must be preapred to fight it EVERY WHERE that it is!! Until we get serious about this, the entire "War on Terror" is a sick joke.
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