U.S. millions to...the Palestinian Authority?

Our days are numbered... Hamas will use the money aginst us.- Jack

U.S. millions to...the Palestinian Authority?
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 3/3/2009 6:00:00 AM

A conservative activist and former presidential candidate says it's absolutely ridiculous for the U.S. to commit nearly a billion dollars in aid to Gaza during a recession.





Congress still has to agree to the aid package, which allocates $900 million to Gaza. According to news reports, $300 million would be earmarked specifically for urgent humanitarian aid to the region, in the wake of Israel's military response to Hamas terrorist rockets being launched from the area. Another $200 million of the package would help cover budget shortfalls of Mahmoud Abbas's government, with the remaining $400 million for economic reform including private sector and other projects on the West Bank.

Speaking in Egypt, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded to concerns about the recipients of the money.

"We have worked with the Palestinian Authority to install safeguards that will ensure our funding is only used where and for whom it is intended and does not end up in the wrong hands," she said. But Gary Bauer, chairman of American Values, says despite Clinton's assurances, some of the money will wind up in terrorists' hands.

"This is ridiculous," he exclaims. "Look -- we're in the middle of an economic crisis and they're sending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money to Gaza where the electorate voted for a party of death, Hamas? And no matter what safeguards they put through, the money ends up in the hands of thugs and terrorists."

This is a clear sign, says Bauer, of what the new administration wants to do in the Middle East. "I believe [that] any member of Congress -- Republican or Democrat -- who claims they are pro-Israel has to vote against sending nearly one-billion taxpayer dollars into Gaza," he argues.

Bauer adds that this terrible waste of taxpayer money should not be allowed to go forward.