- Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerny (U.S. AirForce Ret.) & Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (U.S. Army Ret.)
The United States plans to offer more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel's offensive operation and to strengthen the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, U.S. officials said on Monday.
The money, which requires U.S. congressional approval, will be distributed through the seemingly dysfunctional and inefficient United Nations and other bodies and not via the Radical Islamist Group Hamas, which rules Gaza. Hamas seems to have a unique way to get to any money that comes into Gaza, doesn't it?
Ever since the outgoing Kadima government ended Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on January 20, the Palestinians have steadily stepped-up their missile war against Israel. Over the weekend the IDF acknowledged that six weeks later, daily Palestinian missile barrages against Israel have returned to pre-Operation Cast Lead levels. Moreover, the IDF warned that over the past six weeks, Hamas and its sister terror groups have rebuilt their missile arsenals both through imports of Iranian arms from Egypt and through local production lines. They have also brought in fairly advanced anti-aircraft missiles capable of shooting down IAF helicopters.
On Monday morning, representatives from 80 countries and international organizations convened in Sharm el-Sheikh to pledge billions of dollars in aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza. The US, represented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pledged $900 million in assistance. WE DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY!
But for the United States, "Palestine" would represent just another enemy state. Although fragmented by endless civil war, Fatah and Hamas would both seek closer ties to Iran. Very quickly, there would also be substantial collaborations with al-Qaeda, ties that are now already being fashioned in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Neither the United States nor Israel have direct contact with the Islamist Hamas movement which runs Gaza and remains formally committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. "The package is still shaping up," one official said, when asked for specifics over how the money would be spent and a breakdown of old and new funding. In December, the former Bush administration said it would give $85 million to the U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The March 2 donors' conference in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort aimed to raise humanitarian and rebuilding funds for Gaza after Israel's invasion last December to suppress rocket fire against its cities. Clinton's bid to get "substantial" funds could face an uphill battle in Congress because Hamas continues to rule Gaza and the U.S. focus is on its own souring economy.
Part of the goal of the new funding is to boost the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, which controls the occupied West Bank. The United States wants Abbas's PA to play a central role in the reconstruction effort in Gaza, hoping this will increase its influence in the Hamas stronghold. Washington is also putting pressure on other donors to bolster Abbas.
After attending the conference in Egypt, Clinton is expected to go to Israel and the West Bank - a public demonstration of Obama's promise to make Arab-Israeli peacemaking a foreign policy priority.
The U.S. government has exempted itself - and gone against its established policy on funding terror, again - from requirements to stop terror financing continues to incite and support terrorism and provide sanctuary for known and established terrorist organizations (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hezbollah and al Qaeda cells). The Sept. 24, 2001, Executive Order 13224, calls for "Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit or Support Terrorism."
Pursuant to this order in June 2003, the U.S. Agency for International Development demanded that all U.S. tax-exempt organizations partnering with Palestinian NGOs obtain from the Palestinians an antiterrorism certification, which among other things guarantees that: "The Recipient has not provided, and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that it does not and will not knowingly provide, material support or resources to any individual or entity that commits, attempts to commit, advocates, facilitates, or participates in terrorist acts, or has committed, attempted to commit, facilitated, or participated in terrorist acts."
The U.S. government has exempted itself from these requirements by ignoring the PA's continuing violations of the agreements they signed to stop terror activities and incitement for terrorism, as demonstrated by PA Minister for Civil Affairs Muhammad Dahlan's.
The PA does not stop at inciting against Israel - it also funds incitement against the United States calling for attacks against American soldiers in Iraq. The PA fully funds PA Television, which daily spreads support of terrorism and preachers of hate against Jews and Christians. Therefore, we have another violation of U.S. policy and the using of U.S. taxpayers' money to fund Islamic radicalism. Even if the money is spent on the designated projects, funding the Palestinian Authority at a time when it continues to fund the publication of incitement against the United States does not make much sense.
Besides, why should U.S. taxpayers pay for Palestinian infrastructure while the PA itself still cannot and will not account for the billions it squandered away under Yasser Arafat? Nonetheless, the aid money will certainly wind up in the hands of Hamas, and ultimately be used contrary to the security interests of the United States."
These omissions by the United States, while knowingly funding Palestinian terrorist groups, make a mockery of the U.S. "war on terrorism" and violate U.S. policy.
