Wednesday May 10, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

There is a serious disconnect between United States policy and action.

Policy:
Speaking at a meeting of the Quartet the secretary of state said that the US was concerned by the situation in the Palestinian Authority, that no one wanted to see the Palestinians suffer, that no one wanted to deal with a government that celebrates when a suicide bomber blows himself up in Tel Aviv, that countries should continue their strong stand against Hamas and force Hamas to accept Israel and to condemn violence.

Action:
At the same forum Rice announced that the US was delivering $10 million to the Palestinians for medical - only medical - aid.

Now $10 million is not very much. And when the US gives "aid" to the Palestinians it must be a "transfer in kind" - actual medicine and not cash, otherwise the $$$ might get "lost." Russia just transferred $10 mil to the PA and I can't wait to see if and where it ends up.
The irony is that Palestinian President Abbas actually has access to $1.4 billion but refuses to touch. The money is part of the Palestinian reserves and Abbas does not want Hamas to have any control over the funds.

The United States must be very careful giving humanitarian aid.
The United States must be as careful as Abbas is with PA monetary reserves.