PA NOT READY FOR GAZA HANDOVER

White House: Palestinian Security Lacking.
WASHINGTON - With Israel due to begin evacuating Gaza in six weeks, Palestinian forces are not capable yet of taking charge of security in the area, senior Bush administration officials told Congress on Thursday. “That process will take time,” Lt. Gen. William Ward, who monitors Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, told the Foreign Relations Committee. “It does not now exist.”

“You need a chain of command,” and on any given day, Ward testified, only about 20,000 of the 58,000 Palestinians with security jobs show up for work. But, he said, “the ability will come in time.” Ward said recruitment efforts had begun and Egypt was nearly ready to complete plans to help secure its border with Gaza. Backing up Ward, who was in Washington for consultations and was due to return to the area at the end of the week, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said he also was discouraged by the state of Palestinian security. “Overall, Palestinian performance in confronting violence has been far from satisfactory, and this is a real shortfall and area of concern,” Welch said.

YET EVERYONE (SHARON, BUSH, THE NYT) SUGGESTS THAT ISRAEL PROCEED FULL STEAM AHEAD. THERE IS GOING TO BE CHAOS, AND WHO WILL SUFFER? ISRAEL, WHICH WILL HAVE TO LIVE NEXT TO HAMASISTAN IN GAZA.