The Insecurity of US-Provided Security

ABC's Christiane Amanpour, yes, not CNN, asked a question of Hilary Clinton at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem on September 16, 2010:-

QUESTION: What has he said about the state of Palestinian security on the West Bank, for instance?

and the reply:-

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think that all the Israeli leaders have been impressed [sic] with what the Palestinian security forces are doing. At the same time, they are very concerned about the increasing threats. I mean, we’re now living in an age where Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and funds Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel’s borders.

We’re living in a time when technology is going so quickly that short-, medium-, and long-range missiles are more and more available, not just to states that are antagonistic toward Israel, but even to these networks of terrorist groups. So I think that there is a very important focus on security in the 21st century. If we were talking 20, 30 years ago, it would be a different set of concerns.

Coincidentally, the New York Review of Books has a story on this aspect of security and especially the US-funded, trained, guided force which I have dealt with in a variety of posts (try here and here for starts).

A few comments on the NYRB piece:

a) it's in there but not explicit: if Israel didn;t have freedom of movement to go in to these so-called "secure" areas nightly, there wouldn't be security during the day. almost every day, if you check the news sites of Haaretz, JPost and INN, you'll find reports of "last night X terror suspects were arrested".

b) there is no true oversight on the money not ending up where it shouldn't.

c) as Cavalucci pointed out,m the training, at first, was terrible. despite claims, do we really know it has improved?

d) these Pal. security personal will collapse in Judea and Samaria as they did in Gaza, plain and simple.

e) no one is dealing with the underlying problem: Arab rejection of Jewish nationhood.

For example:

Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Nabil Shaath has announced that the PA will never accept Israel as a Jewish state. In addition, he threatened war if the PA fails to obtain its demands through negotiations, saying, “A Palestinian state will arise, either through negotiations or through armed resistance.”

The Arab League voted last week to support PA Chairman Abbas' refusal to recognize Israel as Jewish.

What a waste of money, time and effort. I would have added expertise but I ma not sure of that.


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