Soccer Dad

Kooks or crooks

Austin Bay looks at the choices for the Palestinians and finds that its Kooks vs. Crooks, not a good choice. He seems somewhat less invested in Mahmoud Abbas than Charles Krauthammer did.

Still I think he's being too optimistic when he writes:

American, European, Israeli and now Egyptian support means extraordinary political and financial assets. Israeli intelligence cooperation certainly gives Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' rump Palestinian government a leg up in stabilizing the West Bank, which Fatah still controls. Given the levels of assistance Abbas can expect, within two years the West Bank could prosper. Hamastan (Gaza) would slide in Islamist misery.

Fatah's squandered resources and goodwill before. Nothing in Abbas's record suggests that he won't follow the same path as before.