Thursday, March 12, 2009
I wouldn't count on them not finding some excuse to get the aid in if it becomes momentarily inconvenient: Clinton: U.S. Gaza aid tied to recognition of Israel
Some $900 million pledged by the United States to the Palestinians will be withdrawn if the expected Palestinian Authority coalition government between Fatah and Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist, Western and Israeli diplomats said Wednesday.
During her visit to the region last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against forming a coalition with Hamas that will not meet the expectations of the Quartet.
Clinton told Abbas that Congress will not approve funding of a Palestinian government that does not recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence. She added that if those requirements are not met the U.S.-funded program under the supervision of General Keith Dayton training PA security forces would be the first to be axed...
"Recognition" is a too pliable term. More concrete/empirical hallmarks should be used, such as Shalit's release, such as refraining from firing rockets and other munitions. Sheesh.
Good grief, pliable terms and conditions - sophistries and casuistic inventions - have virtually defined the deep-seated anemic quality that pervades the "process diplomacy" and feel-good approach in the M.E., in the Levant and beyond.