US Sending $59M to Palestinians' Abbas

www.cnn.com...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly $60 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinians has been cleared for transfer to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said Tuesday.

The funding comprises $43 million for non-lethal training and equipment for Abbas' security forces and $16 million for upgrades at the Karni crossing into northern Gaza, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack announced.

The United States is sending the money directly to Abbas to bypass the portion of the government controlled by the militant group Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.

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Trimmed 'cut/paste' and added 'ex' tags



[edit on 10/4/07 by masqua]

How many dang countries, security forces, nationals, rebels, police, w/e, around the world can we support? Hopefully this money is going there for a good reason and none of it finds its way into the wrong hands.

Well not that 59mil is a lot of money when you are talking about an entire country but if Israel were to release the taxes it collects from Palestinian ports that its withholding they might be doing better. An airport thats in one piece might help also. Why America should pay for what Israel does in the Middle East is beyond me. They destroy stuff and we end up paying for it to be replaced, cleaned up or repaired after the fact.
Maybe every time we end up having to foot the bill after Israel creates an issue we deduct the cost from their yearly aid package , they might think twice when its coming out of their pockets in future reactions or overreactions.

Pie

It was only 2 months ago that Israel (Yes, Israel) sent an arms deal through Egypt to Abbas. When a Palestinian political party is funded by the two groups which put them in poverty, I wonder what the thoughts of Abbas actually are. As much as peace is needed in the Middle East, I doubt it is going to happen under American rule.