"Have we just helped create a terrorist state?"

-Maybe it was that last $50 million that George W. Bush forked over to the Palestinian Authority in May that made the Gaza transfer so... What was Condoleezza Rice's word for the lawless Palestinian stampede of looting and desecration that erupted after the Israeli withdrawal? "Successful." Israeli-Palestinian coordination on this territorial handover was so very... How did Miss Rice describe the dynamic that led to the flags of jihad terrorism being hoisted into a sky darkened by burning synagogues? "Effective."

-Since the Oslo "peace process" began in 1993, Palestinians have received more than $1.5 billion from the U.S. - more aid, as the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, than from any other single country. The Atlantic Monthly's David Samuel tallied up post-Oslo PA aid at $7 billion. This year the U.S. will double last year's $275 million PA aid package, paying out $550 million.

-In July, the Group of 8 countries couldn't pile up money for the PA fast enough, agreeing by 2008 to present its government - which by then could very well include landslide-elected terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, whatever - with $9 billion. Have we paid for a "peace process" or have we financed holy war (jihad)? Have we just helped create a terrorist state?

-The U.S. government has exempted itself - and gone against its established policy on terror, again - from requirements to stop terror financing by giving $50 million to the Palestinian Authority, which continues to incite and support terrorism and provide sanctuary for known and established terrorist organizations.

-In June 2003, the U.S. Agency for International Development demanded that all U.S. tax-exempt organizations partnering with Palestinian NGOs obtain from the Palestinians an antiterrorism certification which, among other things, guarantees that: "The Recipient has not provided, and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that it does not and will not knowingly provide material support or resources to any individual or entity that commits, attempts to commit, advocates, facilitates, or participates in terrorist acts, or has committed, attempted to commit, facilitated, or participated in terrorist acts."

-The U.S. government has exempted itself from these requirements by ignoring the PA's continuing violations of the agreements they signed to stop terror activities and incitement for terrorism, as demonstrated by PA Minister for Civil Affairs Muhammad Dahlan's Aug. 13 statement in the midst of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. Dahlan stated, "This is a day for the people, so it can celebrate in honor of the sacrifice of the shahids [martyrs]."

-The PA also funds incitement against the U.S., calling for attacks against American soldiers in Iraq.