Palestinian leader Abbas must prove he's in charge

[barb162]

By Victor Davis Hanson


snip

Abbas' Cabinet is not galvanizing popular support for fighting the terrorists, whose thuggery against Palestinians is tolerated as unfortunate blowback from their anti-Israeli jihad. Yet for Palestine to become a sovereign state that conducts normal relations with its friends and negotiates differences with the Israelis, the elected government, like Iraq's, must assume a monopoly on the use of force and put down warlords and gangs.

Just as Talabani, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and other Iraqi leaders are fighting for their lives not to allow Iraq to fall into the hands of the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers, so also Abbas must now take the same risks in order to ensure that Palestine becomes a state rather than a permanent terrorist gangland.

Abbas must unambiguously accept the existence of the Jewish state and thus give up the boilerplate slogans about sending 4 million Arabs into pre-1967 Israel under the ``right of return.'' Instead of Palestinian officials praising terrorists in Arabic (``heroes fighting for freedom'') while condemning them in English to European diplomats, Abbas and his Cabinet very soon must decree that Hamas and other killers lay down their weapons or face the fate of all outlaws.

President Talabani and his Iraqi parliament, like President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, are making progress as they fight the radical Islamic enemies of democracy and the rule of law. Mahmoud Abbas, in contrast, has not even begun.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON (author@victordavishanson) is a classicist and historian at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/12710885.htm

[Kagemusha]

1. Him and what army.

Just asking.

[barb162]

8. There are several thousand cops in the PA police force

[bemildred]

2. This is drivel. nt

[barb162]

10. It's good stuff.

[Violet_Crumble]

13. It's total drool...

n/t

[bemildred]

14. Full of silly assumptions. One example:

"Abbas' Cabinet is not galvanizing popular support for fighting the terrorists"

True, they are not even trying. In fact, based on the public
statements being made, "Abbas' Cabinet" is so far from intending
to fight "the terrorists" (who are their countrymen) that they
intend to try to bring them into the political process.

It's hard to make sense when you begin by assuming bullshit.

This piece is littered with such mental flaws.

[barb162]

15. "that they intend to try"

They may have intent to try to do something and it may or may not be successful. What's Israel supposed to do before the Palestinian elections when there's the problem of violence having erupted and most likely continuing. Bullshit? I don't think so as Abbas does have options.

[bemildred]

16. I'm merely pointing out that the intent assumed in the original piece

is not correct, in the way of showing that the original piece is
full of muddle-headed "thinking". I have no desire to defend
Mr. Abbas or the PNA or their plans.

[TomClash]

3. Fascist nonsense

It must be tough to criticize public figures hopelessly outgunned while reading Greek mythology in Palo Alto.

[pelsar]

6. whats wrong?

who ever said statehood was easy?...abbas got what he wanted....full control over gaza....if he couldnt handle it, he should have asked the israelis to stay

whats makes it "facist" for a president to control all the security forces and take a way guns from bangangers?

[barb162]

9. I don't know that Abbas is hopelessly outgunned.

If he is, maybe it's because he has winked about stopping the arms flow to the militants. What precisely is "fascist" about the author's statements? Most governments don't let their citizens march around with rockets and other weapons whenever the mood strikes them, let alone shoot them off at other people.

[Jim Sagle]

4. Fuckin' A!

[madrchsod]

5. wow! if it was just that easy.

just how in the fucking hell do these people get employed?
"boilerplate slogans" no wonder he is at the hoover institution

[pelsar]

7. their problem....

problem with gaining control over a territory is that responsability comes with it. Cant see much investment while hamas runs wild...while productive greenhouses are torn to shreds....and its the responsability of the PA to put their own house in order....nobody elses.

[barb162]

12. Yes, Hamas is virtually running around wild, isn't it

(sort of a pre-anarchy stage, or does it just seem that way from here)

[barb162]

11. It won't be easy; Abbas has basically

refused to disarm the militants. His plan of trying to get them to be part of the formal political process looks a bit doomed as the ceasefire doesn't look like much of a ceasefire anymore and it also looks like Israelis are not going to sit around twiddling their thumbs while militants are shooting rockets at them.