Despite moving at a snail’s pace on most policy decisions, the Obama Administration was still able to muster surprising alacrity when it came down to providing Israel with additional money.
So exactly one week after President Obama decided that the US should provide Israel with an extra $205 million in military aid to pay for its “Iron Dome” missile defense system, the House of Representatives passed the measure, with a 410-4 margin.
The first phase of development, test runs, and manufacture of the system is expected to cost NIS 800 million, meaning the US funding will pay for materially all of this phase. The $205 million is above and beyond the roughly $3 billion in military aid the US sends to Israel annually.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman said the vote was vital, citing “the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.” Of course it could be pointed out yet again that America’s own National Intelligence Estimate shows Iran having no such program, but in this case it doesn’t even matter.
The Iron Dome system is intended for “very short range” rocket fire, primarily the intermittent rockets from the Gaza Strip that hit open fields in southern Israel, and would be completely useless against any missile from as far away as Iran, nuclear or otherwise.
In fact, this was one of the major reasons Israel was seeking the money, as many questioned the wisdom of spending $50,000 per missile to shoot down commodity rockets that cost only a few hundreds dollars apiece, and the Israeli military declined to include the project in its own budget.
The four Representatives voting against the resolution were John Conyers (D – MI), Dennis Kucinich (D – OH), Ron Paul (R – TX), and Pete Stark (D – CA).
What a nightmare this experiment in Palestine has become….giving this land to Talmudic Khazars, deviants, and genetic psychopaths because a 5000 year old religious text said so was a very bad idea. Give it back to the actual Semites (Palestinians).
When will the American people wake up to the fact that most members of the US Congress are TRAITORS to America – and – that Israel is our ONLY enemy in the Middle East?
Where is my comment gone?
I'm censored also
I wrote some remarks about you being censored..but they were censored.
Remember when we were going to get tough with Israel after Benny Yahoo spit in Peace Laureates face over the land stealing issue? No? Well, congress doesn't either.
And it's a good thing that the US economy is so vibrant and awesome otherwise how could we afford to send billions in welfare to our friends? Oh…. wait….
See:
PROJECTILE DYSFUNCTION – IRON DOME, ISRAEL, TRIDENT, AND THE MEDIA http://www.medialens.org/alerts/10/100520_project…
Only 4 said no! Obvious America is controlled/infested by a sinister cult. Any bets,the four voted No,just show that Demockracy works.
How we can STILL be involved in the middle east mess is beyond me. The State of Israel is 61 years old–time to stand on its own two feet come what may. How we stay involved in giving money to other countries of ANY sort, when our own economy is failing just amazes me. Does our government not know how to just say "NO" to any overseas spending at this point? Four out of over 400..very sad.
This article is conveniently ignores salient facts:
*Many of the more than 5,000 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel did not land in open fields, but actually hit their intended targets: the homes and schools of Sderot, Ashqelon, and other border towns. And Israeli civilians died as a result. Also note that every rocket fired from Gaza constituted a war crime by any definition.
*The article also neglects to mention the more than 4,000 katyusha (and other types more powerful) fired by Hezbollah into Israeli cities and towns in the north of Israel. Again, aimed at civilian population centers, this was a massive war crime.
The reason the vote was 410-4 is that most Americans know who is right and who is wrong.
Li'l Mamzer – Very few of the untargettable palestinian rockets hit anything resembling a "target." However, even were you right on all points, what responsibility is it of the American public to pay for the defense of a foreign nation, especially one fully capable of paying for itself?
If Israel wants to purchase american defense missiles, welcome to it. But that 410 congresscritters thought the US should pay (how many billions is it now?) when most of our own states are broke tells us that something is utterly rotten along the banks of the Potomac.
“All Israelis must do military service, which means the Palestinians are NOT attacking civilians
So a 5 year old Israeli child whose kindergarden takes a hit by a Hamas rocket has it coming to him because in the future he MIGHT serve in the army?
LOL
So a 5 year old Palestinian child whose kindergarten takes a hit by an Israeli rocket has it coming to him because in the future he MIGHT become a terrorist?
Thanks Ron Paul, Pete Stark, John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich.
You are the only 4 who don't repeatedly violate the Syminton Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act.
How do we demand they stop breaking the law? There must be a mechanism for redress of grievances.
I guess they were right in you can't just fix stupid. Lets hope we can vote them out!! Isn't it amazing they we have only 4 people elected to office with common sense. Maybe we should change that term to un-common sense since apparently that is closer to the discription.
But it goes beyond stupid or common sense, it's illegal. The Syminton Amendment as mentioned above means Congress is breaking the law by passing this. Of course a little thing like the law doesn't stop criminals.
“So a 5 year old Palestinian child whose kindergarten takes a hit by an Israeli rocket has it coming to him because in the future he MIGHT become a terrorist?
No, because Hamas and Hezbollah (and Fatah when they’re in the mood) target Israeli civilians, whereas the IDF targets Hamas and Hezbollah, who, as we know, hide amongst the civilians. That’s a war crime, you know.
Funny, but the Goldstone report clearly stated that the Israeli military used Palestinian civilians as human shields. The Israeli military also targeted (and hit) UN buildings, schools, hospitals and other civilian structures in both Gaza and Lebanon. This sounds like a war crime to me. And those "rockets" that Hamas lobs at Sderot, which have killed maybe 13 people in eight years, are no match for the carnage that white phosphorous and F-16s wreak. Hamas rockets are defensive weapons–they are defending their lands against Israeli invaders. Israeli weapons, on the other hand, are meant to ethnically cleanse an entire population. You can try to defend murder, apartheid, land theft, occupation, assassination, and war crimes, but in the end you look ridiculous, like holocaust and climate change deniers.
Facts don't fit into the Israeli apologists line of thinking!! Israel, with their armed forces somewhere around the 4th largest in the world is the victim here. It's those Palestinians with their home made fire works rockets who are the agressors.
It's time to start questioning the "progressive" label many Democrats use. Minnesotan reps Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum, both so-called progressives, voted for this scam. Would a true progressive vote for this travesty? Would a true progressive vote to hand over US taxpayer money to a criminal apartheid state that has bombed and destroyed innocent civilians? The term progressive in America is becoming an Orwellian nightmare.
The headline for this article should have read like this: "In 410-4 Vote, the U.S. House of Wall Street-Military-Industrial Whores Approves Millions in Extra Funding for Israel’s Missile Defense." This took place while millions of Americans have been thrown out of their homes, millions of Americans have lost their jobs and one out of eight Americans are on food stamps. The clear and present danger to the liberties and prosperity of the American people isn't half a world away; our true enemy is found right here in America. It is the Wall Street – Washington axis of evil. Remember, remember, the election this November. Vote all encumbents out of office.
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism for tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."
–Zahir Muhsein, P.L.O. terrorist leader
The apologists for "Palestinian" terror is really a veil for the polemics towards zionism and anti-Semitism.
I support sending missiles to Israel. They should expedite the shipment. Send them over at about mach 5.
I agree!!!
I agree too. The missiles should be sent directly to Tel-Aviv and ASAP.
We have it all; we don't need a thing. We live in the shining city on the hill, all the girls are beautiful and all the men are rich. No one goes to bed hungry, no one lives in the street, nature is protected to endure for those who come after us. Those who commit crimes and break the law are justly punished ,so since we never deprive ourselves of anything why wouldn't we pay for anything Israel's little heart desires?
They don't even have to ask, we just give, and give and give.
410 TRAITORS to the American people in the US House of Representatives.
Just imagine how much those "conservative" Republicans would scream if the money was being spent to help the American people. Rush Limbaugh would be shouting his fat head off about the "tax and spend liberals". These AIPAC stooges make me sick to my stomach. Not all Jews support this travesty, and not everyone who does support it is Jewish. But the "pro-Israel" lobby has bought our political system like a sack of potatoes. We should rename July 4th our "Non-Independence Day".