Not Content With Not Cutting Off Palestinian Aid, US Will Actually Increase Funding to Supporters of Terrorism
President Bush, 1/27/06:
President George W. Bush says the United States would cut off aid to the next Palestinian government unless election winner Hamas abolishes the militant arm of its party and stops demanding the destruction of Israel. "And if they don't, we won't deal with them," Bush said in an interview aired Friday on "The CBS Evening News." "The aid packages won't go forward," the president said. "That's their decision to make, but we won't be providing help to a government that wants to destroy our ally and friend."
Secretary of State Rice, 3/12/06:
The United States is considering increasing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday, and she urged the militant group Hamas to choose a peaceful path in government. Speaking to reporters en route to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, Rice said Hamas must make its intentions clear.
"The road map is the way for a better life for the Palestinian people. Whatever government they form needs to make clear to the international community pretty soon that that will be the policy of the government," she said, referring to a U.S-backed peace plan. The State Department is reviewing all aid to the Palestinians to ensure no U.S. funds reach Hamas, following its landslide election victory in January. Hamas is listed by the United States as a terrorist group. While prevented under U.S. law from giving aid directly to a Hamas-led government, Rice said she hoped the United States could provide more humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. "We are looking at ways to even increase our humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people during this period of time, but there are important choices that the Palestinian people face concerning the road map and the Quartet requirements," she said.
If you were trying to demonstrate to the "Palestinian people" (actual quote, not scare quotes - if we were using scare quotes, we'd put them around "Palestinian")... if you were trying to demonstrate to the "Palestinian people" that they've been making poor "important choices" (like, say, vaulting unrepentant terrorists into power), why would you increase aid to them? If the point of aid is to encourage Palestinian moderation, why would the State Department be looking to "provide more humanitarian aid" at exactly this minute, when formal and explicit Palestinian support for terrorism is at a relative high?
Look at how Secretary Rice phrased this - "sure, we're legally prevented from rewarding the Palestinians for supporting terrorism - but we're so clever over here at Foggy Bottom that we're hoping not just to avoid that law, but to do the exact opposite!" With all due respect, it seems like the "Palestinian people" have already made their bed regarding the "road map and the Quartet requirements". Only the State Department's pathological insistence on excusing their support for terrorism is preventing them from having to lie in it.
President George W. Bush says the United States would cut off aid to the next Palestinian government unless election winner Hamas abolishes the militant arm of its party and stops demanding the destruction of Israel. "And if they don't, we won't deal with them," Bush said in an interview aired Friday on "The CBS Evening News." "The aid packages won't go forward," the president said. "That's their decision to make, but we won't be providing help to a government that wants to destroy our ally and friend."
Secretary of State Rice, 3/12/06:
The United States is considering increasing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday, and she urged the militant group Hamas to choose a peaceful path in government. Speaking to reporters en route to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, Rice said Hamas must make its intentions clear.
"The road map is the way for a better life for the Palestinian people. Whatever government they form needs to make clear to the international community pretty soon that that will be the policy of the government," she said, referring to a U.S-backed peace plan. The State Department is reviewing all aid to the Palestinians to ensure no U.S. funds reach Hamas, following its landslide election victory in January. Hamas is listed by the United States as a terrorist group. While prevented under U.S. law from giving aid directly to a Hamas-led government, Rice said she hoped the United States could provide more humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. "We are looking at ways to even increase our humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people during this period of time, but there are important choices that the Palestinian people face concerning the road map and the Quartet requirements," she said.
If you were trying to demonstrate to the "Palestinian people" (actual quote, not scare quotes - if we were using scare quotes, we'd put them around "Palestinian")... if you were trying to demonstrate to the "Palestinian people" that they've been making poor "important choices" (like, say, vaulting unrepentant terrorists into power), why would you increase aid to them? If the point of aid is to encourage Palestinian moderation, why would the State Department be looking to "provide more humanitarian aid" at exactly this minute, when formal and explicit Palestinian support for terrorism is at a relative high?
Look at how Secretary Rice phrased this - "sure, we're legally prevented from rewarding the Palestinians for supporting terrorism - but we're so clever over here at Foggy Bottom that we're hoping not just to avoid that law, but to do the exact opposite!" With all due respect, it seems like the "Palestinian people" have already made their bed regarding the "road map and the Quartet requirements". Only the State Department's pathological insistence on excusing their support for terrorism is preventing them from having to lie in it.
