PA Forces Arrive In W. Bank Untrained

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Hundreds of Palestinian Authority security forces
arrived ill-trained and -equipped and were deployed in the most turbulent
city in the West Bank.
U.S. security sources said the contingent of 450 Presidential Guards --
trained in Jordan under a security program overseen by U.S. envoy Gen. Keith
Dayton -- failed to receive their required training for counter-insurgency
operations in the West Bank. They said the force, loyal to PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas, would be in danger during their deployment in the West Bank
city of Jenin.
"I believe in the peace process, in the two state solution, and in
General Dayton's idea that a viable Palestinian security force is necessary
for peace," Steve Smith, who resigned from the U.S.-financed training
program said. "Unfortunately, the training program will not achieve that
goal without significant additional training."
Smith detailed the inadequate training program in a letter to Rep. Nita
Lowey, chair of the House State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee. He said
the PA officers were instructed on communications without handling radios as
well as driving training without vehicles.