POINT-COUNTERPOINT: WILL US AID HELP FATAH: The State Department seems to think so--which should immediately make the rest of us suspicious.

Point

Ghaith al-Omari, former foreign policy adviser to Abbas and current scholar at the Washington-based New America Foundation, said continued American support was beneficial.

"It definitely helps. We are beginners when it comes to security. We don't have that much experience and it's good to have someone like [US Security Coordinator Lt.-Gen. Keith] Dayton." He praised Dayton's work to date with Palestinians and said that he encountered difficulties due to Fatah's lack of proper equipping and Israeli obstacles.

Counterpoint

[Shoshana] Bryen [of the Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security] countered that years of US support had not paid off.

"How come they're so good at terrorism and so bad at defending the Palestinian parliament?" she asked of some members of the Palestinian security forces who have also been involved in terror attacks on Israelis.

On second thought, we are dealing with terrorists.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Keith Dayton and Shoshana Bryen and Ghaith al-Omari and Abbas and West Bank.