Why Don't I Believe Him?

Another lying sack of Palestinian fecal matter pretends to be cracking down on the terror goons and Reuters laps it up as fact.

The top Palestinian security official said on Saturday his government was dismantling militant groups, including those connected to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

"There is no al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades any more," Interior Minister Abdel-Razak al-Yahya told Voice of Palestine radio, referring to the group linked to Fatah.

Just in the nick of time.

Yahya vowed to exert broader security control a day after Palestinian militants killed two off-duty Israeli soldiers who were hiking near the West Bank city of Hebron. Two militants were also killed in the gun battle.

Israel arrested at least five Palestinians in the Hebron area following the shooting, the army said.

If only we threw a few more billion at them sooner, the crackdown would have spared the lives of the Israeli soldiers.

Even the Al-Aqsa thugs aren't buying this BS.

A unit of al-Aqsa issued a statement in the Gaza Strip accusing Yahya of being a "collaborator" who follows "American and Zionist masters".

A splinter group of al-Aqsa in Gaza -- along with the Islamic Jihad militant group -- claimed responsibility for Friday's shooting attack near Hebron.

Such are the travails on the road to peace.

More Money Down the Rathole

Will we ever learn?

U.S. to vet Abbas's forces before training begins

Members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard eligible for U.S.-funded training and equipment will be screened in advance for militant ties, U.S. documents showed on Wednesday.

The Bush administration is trying to allay concerns raised by some U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials that a portion of the $59.4 million program for the presidential guard could inadvertently benefit militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is linked to Abbas's Fatah faction, or Hamas.

The groups are considered "terrorist organizations" by the United States and
Israel.

Under the program, the United States will provide $14.5 million for "basic and advanced training" for the presidential guard and $23 million for non-lethal equipment.

Another $2.9 million in U.S. funds will be used to upgrade the presidential guard's training facilities, including a sprawling new base being build in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank.

A U.S. government document, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, said members of the presidential guard will undergo a series of local background checks before receiving any U.S.-funded training.

Giving our enemies free money is not sound policy, to put it mildly.