Can Bartlet rely on the Palestinian Authority to arrest the suspected terrorists?
The Palestinian Authority, a political body that has had limited rule over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since 1994, has been criticized for years as ineffective in controlling terrorist acts by Palestinians and by Palestinian organizations such as Hamas. The Palestinian Authority was long led by Yasser Arafat, but the United States pressed for a change in leadership in 2002 and early 2003, with President George W. Bush calling on June 24, 2002 for Palestinian “leaders not compromised by terror” (speech on-line here). That change finally occurred in March 2003 with the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as appointed prime minister, but it did not lead to an end in terrorist actions. “Despite the best efforts of Mamhoud Abbas, a Prime Minister committed to peace, the Palestinian Authority failed to curb violence or reorganize its security services under the authority of an empowered Interior Minister. Terrorist attacks continued, claiming more innocent Israeli liv
