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Half-Truths Dim Chances for Renewing Mideast Talks

(New York Times) Ethan Bronner - As Palestinian officials like to point out, trained Palestinian security forces have been keeping order in West Bank cities for more than a year and claim to have successfully ended violence. The Israeli military begs to differ. Yes, its officers say, the Palestinian forces are better trained than in the past, and yes, they have worked seriously in their new roles. But without nightly Israeli raids into Palestinian cities, the violence would never have stopped. "Last night we carried out between 15 and 20 actions," noted a top Israeli commander, speaking of the West Bank raids in a recent interview. "That was a fairly typical night. It's like throwing a blanket on a fire. If we stop for a minute, we will go backwards very quickly. We call it cutting the grass." And, Israeli officials note, there is still Gaza, ruled by the Islamists of Hamas who remain dedicated to Israel's destruction. Since PA officials dare not even set foot there, it is hard to credit their claim to have dismantled terror networks.
2009-11-27 08:30:34
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