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Abbas's Missed Opportunities in Washington

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Makovsky - * Abbas could have demonstrated progress on the security issue. Even if one accepts the Palestinian premise that Abbas is not strong enough to dismantle Hamas now, there are a variety of steps Abbas could take to demonstrate that he is getting a grip on the situation. * Abbas would have benefited had he been able to demonstrate progress in reducing the number of Palestinian security forces from eleven to three, the focus of Lt. Gen. William Ward's attention as U.S. security envoy. However, there is little expression of progress on security reform. * So far, the promised "crack force" of five thousand PA troops in Gaza has not materialized. Kassam rockets are being fired from Gaza at Israeli border towns. In the wake of the Washington visit, there are promises of dismantling the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and perhaps that will occur. That promise would have had more impact had the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza been disarmed before Abbas's trip. * Another mistake of the Abbas visit was his unrealistic focus on the third phase of the Roadmap while skipping phases one and two. In an article he penned for the Wall Street Journal on the eve of his visit, Abbas implied that he did not want to deal with the phases of the Roadmap that impose obligations on Palestinians as well as Israelis. * The Gaza withdrawal was a significant event to which the Palestinians need to respond by taking major steps of their own.
2005-10-26 00:00:00
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