Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to
Palestinian Authority security programs have been misspent amid lack of
coordination, a report said.

The Bipartisan Policy Center asserted that the United States competes
with other countries in efforts to build PA security forces. The center, in
a report titled “A Stitch in Time: Stabilizing Fragile States,” asserted
that the lack of coordination between donor states has resulted in an
ineffective program as well as lack of U.S. control over PA security in the
West Bank.

“This is a perfect recipe for an ineffective rule of law,” the report,
authored by former U.S. ambassador Paula Dobriansky and retired Adm. Gregory Johnson, said.

The report, released in May 2011, said Washington was seeking to build a so-called gendarmerie for the PA. The United States was also relaying aid, training and equipment to organize the PA Interior Ministry to ensure civilian control over the security forces.

But the U.S. program, believed to be the largest for PA security, has been overshadowed by similar efforts by Canada, China, the European Union, Japan and Russia. The report said these countries conduct efforts in the West Bank without coordination or consultation.

“The U.S. effort in the West Bank is a recent example of this lack of
coordination,” the report said.

The report cited the European Union training program for PA police,
French training for PA intelligence and security forces, Canada’s help to
build prisons and Japan’s program to construct courthouses.

This marked one of several U.S. reports that criticized American aid to
PA security forces. In 2011, Washington allocated $470 million to the PA,
nearly half of which was meant for PA security agencies.

The report said foreign programs for the PA differ in standards. The
center cited efforts by Western and other countries to train PA judges and
prosecutors.

“Few of the above initiatives are coordinated at the policy or
implementation levels, resulting in police and courts that do not
communicate with one another, and prosecutors and judges who have different
legal standards,” the report said. “If an improved U.S. capability to build
partner security capacity is to be effective, it should be capable of
systematically leveraging partner efforts.”

  Adm. Gregory Johnson, Bipartisan Policy Center, PA security forces, Paula Dobriansky, Report: Millions in U.S. aid to Palestinian Authority wasted, West Bank