Have gun, will work!

"Palestinians Pledge to Trade Guns for Jobs"

Hundreds of Palestinian gunmen have signed pledges to halt violence in exchange for government jobs, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas hopes to bring many more militants on board before he meets President Bush in May, Palestinian officials said Monday.

The new jobs-for-guns program, which offers the biggest rewards to those who've spent the longest time in Israeli prisons or on the run from the military, is meant to counter Israeli and U.S. complaints that Abbas is doing little to control the armed groups.

Extortion at its finest. And where, pray tell, will the Palestinian government get money to pay for their jobs?

Why, from more foreign aid, of course! Not only are these thugs blackmailing their own government, they're blackmailing the U.S. and other nations that give them billions. Meanwhile, Arafat's legacy continues, with these gunmen committing violence instead of taking up honest work.

"As a matter of cosmic history, it is easier to destroy than to create." - Spock, Star Trek II

It's shades of Bastiat's What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen: you must maintain soldiers' employment, because society cannot bear their unemployment. Except in this case, the Palestinian thugs imply they'll continue raping and pillaging the land if the government doesn't create jobs for them.