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Subsidies for Israel, Sanctions for Iran |
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Written by Grant Smith
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Tuesday, 30 June 2009 21:21 |
 President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget request for $2.775 billion
in military aid to Israel is proceeding smoothly through the Congress. On June
17 the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs held a “markup” session on the budget. The subcommittee came
under pressure from an antiwar group that sought to suspend or condition foreign
aid over Israel’s use of U.S. weapons that left 3,000 Palestinians dead during
the Bush administration. The subcommittee held its session in
a tiny Capitol room, denying activists and members of the press access to
determine whether there was any discussion on aid to Israel. The budget quickly
passed and is now before the full House Appropriations committee.
Israel enjoys “unusually wide latitude in spending the [military assistance]
funds,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Unlike other recipients
that must go through the Pentagon, Israel deals directly with U.S. military
contractors for almost all of its purchases. This gives the U.S.-based Israel
lobby, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC),
increased influence on Capitol Hill. Large contractors proactively segment many
military contracts across key congressional districts to make them harder to
oppose. The military contractor fight for Israel’s favor frees up AIPAC from
shepherding the massive aid package to dedicate its considerable resources
toward Iran sanctions.
Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.)
sponsored an
amendment to the foreign operations bill that would prevent the
Export-Import Bank of the United States from providing loan guarantees to
companies selling refined petroleum to Iran. According to the Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, Kirk is the top 2008 recipient of
pro-Israel
political action committee (PAC) contributions [.pdf]. Kirk received $91,200
in the 2008 election cycle, bringing his career total thus far to more than
$221,000. Kirk’s AIPAC-sponsored sanctions legislation passed the House
Appropriations Committee on June 23. While tactically positioned as a rebuke to
the crackdown on Iranian election protesters, the measure is only the most
recent of a raft of long-term
AIPAC-sponsored sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program. Israel contends
Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons under the auspices of a civilian
program, though no hard evidence has emerged. Yet one illicit nuclear arsenal in
the region has been positively identified.
The
U.S. Army [.pdf], former president
Jimmy Carter,
and Assistant Secretary of State
Rose Gottemoeller have all recently confirmed that the only country in the
Middle East that has deployed nuclear weapons is Israel. The Symington and Glenn
amendments to foreign aid law
specifically prohibit U.S. aid to nuclear states outside the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Iran has signed the NPT. Israel hasn’t.
Congress can’t have it both ways on taxpayer-funded sanctions and rewards. If
gasoline imports indirectly support Iran’s nuclear ambitions, then $2.775
billion in cash for conventional U.S. weapons and military technology clearly
allows Israel to focus on development and deployment of its illicit nuclear
arsenal. Recently released
CIA files long ago forecast that such an arsenal would not only make Israel
more “assertive” but also more reluctant to engage in bona fide peace
initiatives. Cutting the massive indirect U.S. subsidization of Israel’s nukes
and insisting that Israel sign the NPT would go further in averting a nuclear
arms race and conflicts in the region than targeting hapless Iranians at the gas
pump. It would also demonstrate to the American public that the president and
Congress, even under the pressure of AIPAC, won’t blatantly violate U.S. foreign
aid laws by publicly
pretending Iran – rather than Israel – is the region’s nuclear hegemon.
Source: Anti War
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I think Iran's neighbours should stand togather and do not allow Israel and America to destroy the Arab world. I still feel that its time the Arab world along with the Chinese set up their own refineries, to supply refined oil to China Arabia and Africa, because those areas are closer. I think America wants the control of oil and gas in Iran and Iraq and also Gaza which is rich in gas. Till Israel receives a fatal blow they will for ever stiring up wars in the world.