U.S. arming and training PA guard against Hamas

[bemildred]

The Bush administration has undertaken efforts to arm and train the Presidential Guard of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to prepare it for a potential violent confrontation with Hamas
forces in the Gaza Strip.

According to information received in Jerusalem, the American security coordinator in the territories, General Keith Dayton, appeared before representatives of the Quartet in London last week and presented them with a program for bolstering the Palestinian presidential guard. The program calls for Egyptian, British and perhaps even Jordanian instructors to train the force loyal to Abbas.

---

According to foreign press reports, the United States would like to see the number of men in Force 17 grow from approximately 3,500 to 6,000. Conscripts in the force range from 18 to 22, and undergo basic training for three months. Some are then selected for the Presidential Guard.

---

Senior administration officials David Welch and Elliott Abrams, who participated in the Quartet meeting, will arrive here Monday as part of preparations for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to Washington in two
weeks.

Haaretz

[lyonn]

1. Wish someone would train bush in the skills of Diplomacy

instead of trying to play soldiers around the world. He is terrible in soldiering.

[Stockholm]

2. Bush arming Force 17?

Arafat would like that!

[Stockholm]

3. The more I think about this the more my head hurts

1. Bushco lobby Sharon into letting Hamas contest the election.
2. Buscho shuns elected PA government.
3. Buscho arms and train Fatah to fight a civil war and overthrow the elected government.

This is bringing democracy to the middle east?

[bemildred]

4. This is what you get when all of your "thinking" and "planning"

is based on short-sighted expediency and hanging onto political power as long as possible.

[IntiRaymi]

8. They are following the British method.

Divide and Conquer.
Just exploit local rivalries, and weaken.

[4freethinking]

5. Not a good idea

NS

[bemildred]

6. U.S. to Israel: Allow Egypt to Arm Palestinian Bader Division

(IsraelNN.com) The United States is pressuring Israel to approve the transfer of thousands of guns from Egypt to the Palestinian Bader Division in Jordan prior to the unit’s deployment in Gaza.

According to an unnamed official quoted by the Haaretz news service, U.S. President George Bush expects the division to arrive in Gaza prior to his meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Washington next Monday.

He also said that political means could also be used to deal with terrorism activity aimed at Israel from Gaza as well as military solutions.

The official added that the Bush administration believes the humanitarian issues in Gaza must be addressed in order to prevent a swell of support for the Hamas terrorist group.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=115027

[bemildred]

7. Diplomats fear US wants to arm Fatah for 'war on Hamas'

AMERICAN proposals to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian security forces with additional guns and fighters have alarmed other Western nations, who argue that it is tantamount to supporting one faction in a potential civil war.

Fearing the strength of Hamas in Gaza, some US officials have urged that the moderate President Abbas should be given “deterrent capability” so that his Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority forces can confront the Islamist group if talks on a national unity government fail.

The divisions have led to a stand-off over the past month, with US officials saying that the unity government proposal had “no legs”. Other members of the “quartet” of international mediators — made up of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — say that it should be given a chance instead of arming one of the Palestinian factions.

Proposals raised at meetings in London and Cairo include doubling the size of Mr Abbas’s presidential guard and persuading Israel to allow thousands of rifles into Gaza to alleviate its chronic shortage of weapons relative to Hamas.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2459426,00.ht...