26 May 2012

The disturbing, ludicrous legislation which would give unknown amount of military aid to Israel


By Madison Ruppert:
I never cease to be amazed by the fact that our so-called representatives so blatantly work against the American people while actively working for foreign nations that not only support and train terrorists but are also egregious violators of human rights and flouters of international law.

Of course, I am referring to none other than the state of Israel, which has become what some call the 51st state. I would disagree with this characterization, as it would imply that Israel is viewed as equal to any of the other 50 states, which is clearly not the case.

Israel is placed on a special level far above all of America, evidenced by the fact that “our” government continues to pour funds into Israel while countless people in the United States are homeless, hungry, jobless and completely ignored by the suits in Washington D.C.

Even more ludicrous is the fact that we do not even have the money that they continue to give and guarantee to Israel. Our nation is wracked by more debt and a larger deficit than any time before and yet our government believes a foreign state should be given higher priority than our own country.
The latest incarnation of the completely nonsensical American support of Israel is the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which has already passed Congress.
H.R. 4133, or the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, sponsored by Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) along with 304 others, passed the house on May 9, 2012 with a disturbingly large margin.
Indeed, only two of our so-called representatives actually voted against the legislation, further proving that the vast majority of politicians couldn’t care less about America or the people of the United States.

Having passed through Congress, Senate is next in line to pass the legislation, which is designated as S. 2165.
Personally, I think it is highly probable that it will pass the Senate, if not in this specific incarnation, then a nearly identical one. After all, a whopping 50 Senators co-sponsored the bill, representing 50% of the entire Senate.
As of March 6, 2012, S. 2165 was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where it remains to this day, although on May 10 H.R. 4133 was referred to the Senate.
While our so-called representatives squabble over anything and everything based on petty partisan politics and pandering, they never fail to agree on one thing: blind, unwavering support of the terrorist state of Israel.
The legislation is much more than a ceremonial reaffirmation of American support for Israel and their war on Palestinian civilians and anyone who disagrees with their apartheid policies.
If you can believe it, the bill is actually going to expand the military ties between the United States and Israel beyond the $3+ billion already given to what is often pointedly referred to as “the Jewish state of Israel,” in order to the majority of the native population from the farcical “democracy.”
In fact, under Section 3, Statement of United States Policy, the legislation specifically states that it is the policy of the United States, “To reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.”
This is no minor issue, as it is specifically included in order to show America’s support for the racist, backwards Israeli policies such as segregated roads and theft of Palestinian land.
The legislation also extends the “War Reserves and Stockpile Authority” in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2005 – Section 12001(d) (Public Law 108-287; 118 Stat. 1011) and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 – Section 514(b)(2)(A) (22 U.S.C. 2321h(b)(2)(A)).
Furthermore, it extends loan guarantees to Israel under Chapter 5 of title I of the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108-11; 117 Stat. 576), which is especially troublesome given that the United States has absolutely no money to loan. Every cent we’re spending is borrowed, so lending borrowed money we can’t afford to pay back makes no sense whatsoever.
This legislation is not only aimed at funneling more money into Israel’s coffers. When one reads the legislation, which is far from lengthy, it becomes abundantly clear that this bill is squarely aimed at Iran and Syria.
It doesn’t take a genius to see this, as we plainly see in the following sub-sections from Section 2, Findings:
(4) The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is continuing its decades-long pattern of seeking to foment instability in the Middle East, particularly in this time of dramatic political transition.
(5) At the same time, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of international law.
(6) A nuclear-weapons capable Iran would fundamentally threaten vital United States interests, encourage regional nuclear proliferation, further empower Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, and pose a serious and destabilizing threat to Israel and the region.
(7) Over the past several years, with the assistance of the Governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas have increased their stockpile of rockets, with more than 60,000 now ready to be fired at Israel. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to develop its missile technology as well, including cruise missiles.
However, the most problematic aspect of this legislation is that it is wildly open-ended and vague as evidenced by the following sub-sections of Section 3, statement of United States Policy which states that it is the policy of the United States:
(2) To provide the Government of Israel the military capabilities necessary to deter and defend itself against any threat or possible combination of threats.
(3) To assist the Government of Israel with its ongoing efforts to forge a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that results in two states living side-by-side in peace and security, and to encourage Israel’s neighbors to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
(4) To veto any one-sided anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations Security Council.
(5) To support Israel’s inherent right to self-defense.
(6) To pursue every opportunity to expand cooperation with the Government of Israel on defense and national security matters and across the spectrum of civilian sectors, including advanced technology, agriculture, medicine, health, pharmaceuticals, and energy.
Obviously this is left wide open for a reason: to be able to provide Israel with as much funding and military hardware as possible.
Some of the most interesting aspects of this legislation appear in Section 4, Sense of Congress, which states that it is the sense of Congress that the United States Government should take the following actions to assist in the defense of Israel:
(1) Seek to enhance the capabilities of the Governments of the United States and Israel to address emerging common threats, increase security cooperation, and expand joint military exercises.
(2) Work to encourage an expanded role for Israel within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including an enhanced presence at NATO headquarters and exercises.
(3) Expand already-close intelligence cooperation, including satellite intelligence, with the Government of Israel.
(4) Examine ways to strengthen existing and ongoing efforts, including the Gaza Counter Arms Smuggling Initiative, aimed at preventing weapons smuggling into Gaza pursuant to the 2009 agreement following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as measures to protect against weapons smuggling and terrorist threats from the Sinai Peninsula.
(5) Provide the Government of Israel with necessary support to increase development and production of joint missile defense systems, particularly such systems that defend the urgent threat posed to Israel and United States forces in the region.
(6) Make every effort to assure the provision to the Government of Israel of defensive equipment through such mechanisms as lend-lease, to include air refueling tankers, missile defense capabilities, and specialized munitions.
(7) Undertake efforts to make available for purchase by the Government of Israel surplus defense items, particularly those resulting from the end of United States combat operations in Iraq.
(8) Offer the Air Force of Israel additional training and exercise opportunities in the United States to compensate for Israel’s limited air space.
Here we see that the U.S. seeks to further integrate Israel into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is a hot button issue for Turkey, to put it lightly.
Also quite interesting is the expansion of intelligence sharing, especially the sharing of satellite intelligence.
Thoroughly unsurprising, however, is the pledge to provide Israel with support for increased development and production of their missile defense systems, which the U.S. has been pouring massive sums into despite the fact that we do not have the money to do so.
The mention of “air refueling tankers” is also not too surprising, as Israel lacks sufficient numbers of these aircraft to enable long range assaults on nations like Iran.
There is also mention of improving “the acquisition process for the purchase of F-35 aircraft by Israel, particularly with respect to cost efficiency and on-time delivery, taking into account the urgent need of the Government of Israel for such aircraft,” under Section 6, Reports Required.
This section mandates reports no later than 180 days after the enactment of the Act dealing with Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME) as defined in section 36(h)(2) of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776(h)(2)) as well as a report on F-35 acquisition and “Efforts to expand cooperation between the United States Government and the Government of Israel in homeland security, counter-terrorism, maritime security, energy, cyber-security, and other related areas.”
Also mandated is a report on “Actions to integrate Israel into the defense of the Eastern Mediterranean,” likely meaning closer integration in NATO activities in the region.
According to one anonymous source cited by Globes Online, an Israeli business news site, in an article entitled “US seen awarding Israel largest ever aid package,” the Obama administration has already expressed support for the legislation.
“This bill has received the blessing of the Obama administration, which sees it as a conciliatory gesture towards Israel in advance of the agreement with Iran, about which Israel has already begun to express reservations,” the unnamed source said.
Indeed, Israeli officials have been quite unhappy about these talks with Iran, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the talks a “trap” and others fearing that it could prevent the unilateral military strike on Iran so many have been talking about.
Yet this goes far beyond a conciliatory gesture and should not be treated as such.
Representative Ron Paul, one of only two people to vote against H.R. 4133, called it “another piece of one-sided and counter-productive foreign policy legislation.”
“This bill will not help the United States, it will not help Israel, and it will not help the Middle East,” Paul said. “It will implicitly authorize much more US interventionism in the region at a time when we cannot afford the foreign commitments we already have. It more likely will lead to war against Syria, Iran, or both.”
Meanwhile, House Minority representative Steny Hoyer nonsensically claimed it will increase cooperation between the U.S. and Israel so that Israel “can further deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons capability and work together to combat terrorism that threatens both of our countries.”
This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever given that it is Israel and the United States who are creating and openly advocating terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East, but of course these facts are just glossed over or ignored entirely.
All in all, this legislation should be nothing short of infuriating for any American who believes that this nation should have a future without a mountain of debt which can never be paid off. It should also be deeply upsetting to anyone who thinks that the people of the United States should have homes, food, healthcare and other necessities.
Legislation like this actively works against us and as some have argued, it actually works against Israel as well, not to mention failing to bring peace to the Middle East.
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