Saturday April 8, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

Congress controls the purse strings.
The world knows that and nobody wants to tick off the United States Congress.
Well, the Palestinians have ticked off Congress.

Congress passed a law forbidding the allocation of any funds to the Palestinian Authority unless it can be proved that the funds do not go towards sponsoring terror. But Congress also allowed for $400 million to go to the Palestinians for humanitarian aid.

But now things are different. Hamas was elected on January 25 and did nothing to alter their terrorist image. They were sworn in last week and still, Hamas is a terrorist organization. If Hamas is a terrorist organization, and if Hamas is the ruling government in the Palestinian Authority, then de facto, any money given to the PA is money given to sponsor terror or terrorist organizations.
As of yesterday Congress is suspending all but $100 million in indirect aid.

$300, 000,000 gone. The money was for infrastructure, information and technology, local governmental, judicial, communal and electoral needs and vocational training. The remaining $100,000,000 will be very carefully doled out and even that money may be pulled at any time.

The financial squeeze on Hamas just might have an impact.
We are starting to see some cracks in their once impenetrable wall.