Forget Arming Lebanon--Explain Again Why The US Is Arming Palestinians?

Speaking at a pro-Israel think tank in Washington last May, Dayton had warned that the discipline of his troops could fall apart if there was no headway in peace talks. "With big expectations, come big risks," Dayton said. "There is perhaps a two-year shelf life on being told that you're creating a state, when you're not."

Lieut. General Keith Dayton, Time Magazine on the 2,000-man Palestinian National Security Force, November 2009

Dayton is due to step down from his position in charge of training these forces this fall, raising again concerns about whether the weapons of these forces could be turned against Israel.

Arguments I have heard against this concern are that the weapons are available anyway in the West Bank. Also, the training is focused on greater professionalism as opposed to teaching them how to work more effectively as a platoon.

But while the Israeli government may not be concerned about the potential danger here, others are.


David Bedein (Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research) and Arlene Kushner (senior research analyst there and author of the daily blog, Arlene From Israel) ask the question: Is the US training Israel’s enemies?:

...the fear that Palestinian troops may turn their weapons on the IDF stems from the precedent of what occurred with the outbreak of the second intifada 10 years ago, when Palestinian troops nurtured and trained by the US and even by the IDF engaged in a fullscale armed action against Israel.

Indeed, the PA issued an official report, funded by the American government and the European Union, which indicates that the PA security forces had risen to a “pre-army” level. That report, published by the Palestine Center for Policy and Social Research, mentions that the PA forces have been significantly professionalized thanks to US military aid, which, over the past 18 months, has trained five battalions in a four-month course held in Jordan.

In other words, were PA troops, in frustration and anger, to turn on Israel, they would do so with a newfound competence, thanks to the training being provided by the US.

Another concern is who would lead this US-trained forces? If at some point Fatah and Hamas settle their differences, there is the possibility that these very same forces would come under control--just as US arms provided in the past have ended up in the hands of Hamas. And if you think such a scenario is unlikely, how many people anticipated that Hamas would not only win the election--and kick Fatah out of Gaza?

A third problem is expressed by Dr. Mordechai Kedar, research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. The issue he raises in internal to the nature of the the Palestinian force and Palestinian Arab society. In the event that these forces are called into service, their loyalty will be to their clan, rather to the state--"since they will never shoot their brothers or cousins."

Read the whole thing.

Arming Palestinian Arabs to control their own security concerns sure sounds like a good idea.
But isn't that what they said about elections in Gaza?

Technorati Tag: Keith Dayton and West Bank.