The PA is finished

The PA is being run by a bunch of wimps who get no respect from anyone. Their days are numbered unless they can figure out a way to actually put some force behind their "peaceful" words.

Oh, and when they say they are against violence, it means against themselves, not against Israelis.

BALATA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank - Gunmen in a refugee camp opened fire Wednesday, disrupting a lecture from the Palestinian prime minister about the need to end violence. The brazen shooting highlighted the difficulty of his task.

'This country needs order, needs quiet,' Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia shouted, repeating a theme he has pressed for weeks. But even as he spoke, gunfire rang out, startling Qureia and putting his bodyguards on high alert.

Associated Press Television News footage showed militants angrily waving their weapons as Qureia's security guards ��� their rifles trained on the gunmen ��� stood at the windows of the building where the prime minister was speaking in the Balata camp next to the city of Nablus.

'Don't listen to them. Don't be scared, don't let these gunmen run the show,' Qureia implored his audience.

After Qureia's speech, gunmen opened fire again and set off an explosive device about 300 yards from his convoy. No one was injured. Qureia was whisked away.

See also this from al-Ha'aretz:

The weakening of Abbas is very troubling to the American administration. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who came to the area last week, was impressed by the seriousness of a report she received from her security coordinator General William Ward, who decribed the crumbling of the PA, power struggles and infighting at senior levels of Fatah.

She asked her Israeli hosts to do all they could to help Abbas. Washington understands that Abbas' fall would be considered a failure of President George W. Bush's policy of democratization. But even the Americans are wondering whether to continue assisting Abbas or if the time has come to realize that nothing will help him, and even if he gets extra assistance, he won't be able to give anything in return.