re: #683 Floral Giraffe

OT, but has anyone seen this?
[Link: thebulletin.us…]

Looks like it’s been going on since 2007.

U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians
Jim Zanotti
Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division

Assistance for Palestinian Civil Security Forces. As mentioned above, aid has been given to train and to provide non-lethal equipment for PA security forces loyal to President Abbas in an effort both to counter militants from organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and to establish the rule of law for an expected Palestinian state. This assistance, planned by the Administration to lastat least through 2011, has come from the INCLE account. Since Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. Security Coordinator, has helped with the training of about 400 Presidential Guardsmen and about 1,000 National Security Forces (NSF) troops (training for the second of five special NSF battalions planned for the West Bank began in September 2008) at the International Police Training Center just outside Amman, Jordan.12 Most reports agree that law and order have improved where the PA forces have been deployed, but uncertainty remains (particularly among some Israeli officials) over the willingness and ability of the forces to incapacitate militants. Some Palestinians and outside observers assert that the effectiveness and credibility of PA operations are undermined by Israeli restrictions, as well as by Israel’s own security operations in the West Bank.

Same commander has been kept on board apparently as shown in bold above.

Here’s a general *.gov search with LTG Keith Dayton for a variety of government documents pertaining to this.

The article is incorrect in stating that it now openly admits to this training since it was part of the congressional record since around 2007.