Posted on 12/28/2004 11:31:17 AM PST by anotherview
Dec. 28, 2004 19:09
Lieberman: US-PA ties improved
By HERB KEINON
Yasser Arafat's death has led to an improvement in US-Palestinian ties, but these improved relations are conditional on the Palestinian Authority stopping terror, US Senator Joe Lieberman said Tuesday during a visit to Jerusalem.
"The US and the PA are on the verge of a new and better bilateral relationship, based on a democratic path," said Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut. "The nature of that relationship will be affected by the extent that the PA commits itself to fighting terror and using all its power to choose a peaceful path forward."
Lieberman made these comments at a Jerusalem press conference with Mark Dayton, a freshman democratic senator from Minnesota.
Dayton said that while the upcoming PA elections are critically important, the PA' s relations with the US would be determined by what comes afterward.
"Democracy is a precondition, but it is not the final measure," said Dayton. "Hypothetically a democracy that chooses a path that is antithetical to the principle of coexistence with Israel is not something the US can support just because it comes out of a democratic process."
The PA received a concrete expression of its improved ties with Washington on Tuesday, when the US Agency for International development (USAID) transferred $20 million in cash to the interim Palestinian leadership.
According to a statement released by USAID, the money transfer underlines "US confidence in the Palestinian Authority's reform program." The Palestinians have received some $1.3 billion in US aid since 1993.
US President George W. Bush signed a special presidential waiver earlier in the month making the allocation possible. At that time, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns said the transfer reflects "our confidence in the direction of the PA's reform program and our expectation that reform will continue to be implemented energetically."
Lieberman said that he expects the Palestinians will ask the US for additional funds, and that this will be considered by the Administration and Congress. He anticipates that this type of financial assistance "will only come in response to continued democratization in the PA, development of civil society and rule of law, and, of course, it will be proportionate to the commitment and action taken by the PA to stop the violence."
Lieberman met Monday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Labor Party head Shimon Peres, as well as the Palestinian leadership including PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad and Sa'eb Erekat.
Dayton joined Lieberman Monday evening, and the two are scheduled to go from Jerusalem to Jordan and then to visit US troops in Iraq.
Regarding positions Abbas has publicly taken in recent campaign speeches, including a pledge not to give up on the demand for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel, Lieberman said that Abbas stressed to him his "commitment to the democratic process, stopping violence, and the demilitarization of the Palestinian cause."
The extent to which he is able to deliver on this will determine the PA's relationship with the US over the next four years, Lieberman said.
The senator, who unsuccessfully ran with Al Gore against Bush and Dick Cheney in 2000, said there is "no question" that after Arafat's death the Bush Administration "will now be more active in relating to the Palestinian side." He said the Palestinians indicated to him that they are interested in more intense US involvement.
Lieberman has his doubts, however, whether Bush will appoint a new Mideast envoy. "This administration has a skepticism of the role of special envoys," he said. "Whether there is a special envoy or not, expect the US to be more involved as events on the Palestinian side justify it."
Lieberman sidestepped questions about the federal investigation into whether the American Israel Public Action Committee (AIPAC) passed on classified information to Israel, saying there is not much he knows or can say about the matter.
He said that while there is "obviously concern about it," AIPAC -- even as the investigation is taking place -- "retains all its credibility, effectiveness and importance before the members of Congress".
Really? Then why is the U.S. already giving money and holding meetings when terror continues unabated?
US confidence in the Palestinian Authority's reform program
What is this confidence based on?
The Palestinians have received some $1.3 billion in US aid since 1993.
How much was spent on terorrism? How much went into Yasser Arafat's personal bank accounts?
US President George W. Bush signed a special presidential waiver earlier in the month making the allocation possible.
I had hoped he knew better than to do this.
Lieberman said that he expects the Palestinians will ask the US for additional funds
You can bet your bottom dollar on it.
I'm relieved that the US and Pennsylvania are patching things up.
Palestinian Authority also is abbreviated PA. I am not at all glad the U.S. is patching things up with terrorists. Are you?
Whoa! Smackdown! Tetchy today, are we?
They love us all, the more we give, the more they love us. Till they kill us that is. It seems they have this character flaw...
Probably. Rough day at work. The Marx Brothers, the comedians, were cousins of my grandfather's. MarxSux doesn't exactly sit well either, though I'm sure you mean Karl.
I read the other day that Mark Dayton and family own Target, the chain that dumped on the Salvation Army this CHRISTMAS season.
Now there is a connection somewhere to this story; I'm just too tired or dumb to figure it out. (:-)
"The US and the PA are on the verge of a new and better bilateral relationship, based on a democratic path," said Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut. "The nature of that relationship will be affected by the extent that the PA commits itself to fighting terror and using all its power to choose a peaceful path forward."
Sigh. Lieberman isn't a bad or evil man, he's just the Shimon Peres of the US Senate who thinks if we "could all just get along" and the US throws more money down the rathole that everyone will make nice-nice and we'll all walk together in broad and sunny uplands.
Dear Sen. Lieberman, people who have genuine mutual good will can make nice-nice and walk together in broad and sunny uplands. That cannot happen when one group of people has as part of its charter the total destruction of another. All the nice-nice and good will does not make a dent when the guy in front of you is holding a knife and has sworn by Allah (or whatever) to murder you.
Well then, I guess we will be demanding the PA return the Billions of bucks for Peace then.
Ain't that the truth!
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