The Joe Biden administration rolled out a new assistance agreement with Jordan. Washington will send Amman $10.15 billion over the next seven years. The new deal will make Jordan the third largest recipient of American aid, following only Ukraine and Israel.
The White House signed the new memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Friday. The Biden administration first discussed the new agreement with Jordan on the sidelines of the Jeddah summit in July. The MOU is the largest aid package the US has ever signed with Amman.
Jordanian officials celebrated the aid, and claimed it was essential. "It’s an extremely important MOU. It speaks to the strong friendship the two countries have," foreign minister Ayman Safadi said. He added, "The US has gone above and beyond for Jordan."
The State Department stressed Amman’s strategic importance to America’s foreign policy goals in the Middle East. "The MOU represents a major commitment to Jordan’s stability and the durability of the strategic partnership," the press release said.
While the US sees Jordan as an important partner in the Middle East, Washington and Amman do not see eye-to-eye on Syria policy. Jordan recently endorsed the Russian presence in Syria as "stabilizing." Some of the aid will help Amman manage the 1.3 million Syrian refugees. The reconstruction of Syria is currently being stifled by American sanctions.
The MOU that grants Amman over $10 billion from US taxpayers was signed even though the State Department claims Jordan’s monarchical government commits disturbing human rights abuses. According to the State Department, Amman has consistently committed major violations of human rights. "Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment in government facilities; arbitrary arrest and detention; political prisoners or detainees; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including the existence of criminal libel laws and censorship…." the 2021 Human rights report said.
Like Jordan, other top recipients of American aid have tarnished human rights records. Israel receives $3.8 billion annually and is accused by Western NGOs of being an apartheid state. Egypt will take in over $1 billion in aid in 2022, and several representatives believe Cairo is guilty of carrying out extrajudicial killings. The top recipient of aid, Ukraine, has nationalized its media and banned nearly all political opposition parties in the past six months.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
Oh boy, so Jordan is so much better than Russia. Well, they do have all those Syrian refugees, largely courtesy of the US, so I suppose…. but how much do you think will get to those pitiful squatters? Zero. Meanwhile in the US, those 50 (fifty — oh what a mighty number) of immigrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard were promptly swept away to an army base somewhere (I’m sure it’s VERY nice). No room at the millions of dollars of now empty summer housing on Martha’s precious island. Property values, you know.
The army base is on Cape Cod and much more accessible to immigration services in Boston.
There are no bridges or tunnels to and from the mainland to Martha’s Vineyard. There is no ferry service to and from Boston.
The closest, cheapest ferry, which is still $19.50 per person round trip, is in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, which is 75 miles from Boston.
It’s almost like they wanted these folks not to make their scheduled immigration appointments, isn’t it?
Frankly, I think the migrant relocation strategy of Texas and Florida is both a genius political stunt — though I assign no negative connotation to the term “stunt” — and a genuine, if limited, solution to the financial burden of the Dem-enabled migrant invasion.
Dispense with all the divisive and phony political acrimony. This is a glass half full situation … and opportunity.
All those rich communities, of which there are a substantial number in the US …
Start here: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-places/?leadSource=uverify%20wall
… all of them need gardeners, nannies, cooks, housekeepers, chauffeurs, and other service workers. Barak and Hillary don’t mow their own lawns. Of course not. And with all their money, expanding their crew of domestic servants is easily affordable. And since they are responsible for the policies that brought the “invasion”, it is only appropriate that they should pay the costs associated with helping all these decent, hard-working, people-in-need.
I say organize the logistics, expand the program of distribution by bus and plane — shuttle bus from the border to an ad hoc bus terminal or airport — and send the richest communities the hired help they need and deserve.
I mean, it’s a win win for everyone. Should have started 18 months ago, but better late than never.
Abbot and DeSantis: You rock!
It’s not a win for Florida’s taxpayers who made a de facto involuntary contribution to Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign so that he could do a silly little look at me dance over flying immigrants into Florida from Texas to “deport” them from Florida.
They should be flown to Israel; they always open new “settler” areas to displace, kick out the natives.
I really don’t know Jeff Davis’s politics. He seems to be oblivious to the manipulation of these refugees, sending them to a place they had never heard of. They were told there would be housing and jobs forb them. Far from arranging for their accommodation, they arrived to stunned officials wondering what had happened. The best part is how these Desantis Abbot & sadly Tucker Carlson too, showed their cultural and historical ignorance like clueless simpletons. Its as if they thought that Marthas Vineyard was like some gilded gated island community that arose from the sea Lilly white and liberal. The first embarrassing tell is that surely none of these oafish pranksters had ever read Moby Dick, one of Americas great novels of early American struggles and the social framework of life in the whaling era especially aboard the whale ship Pequot. In those days the whale ships picked up crew in the waters they sailed in places like Cape Verde to pursue the whales and the riches that they bring. There are still to this day the descendants of there whalers of color living on the island. Another period of change that brought many people of color to the island voluntarily was the Great Depression. People of color who worked for the Federal government were not much effected by economic collapse that drove economic austerity and plunging prices for real estate on the island. Why these D.C,middle class blacks started buying up island real estate has to my knowledge never been fully explained but the somewhat classless society of the whaling community probably played a large role
The important thing to recall is that these are HUMAN BEINGS unwillingly caught up in a vicious game of politics. Note that de Insanus sent these people to northern climes before winter sets in. The people were confused and disoriented, many having no idea where they even were.
Wherever de Insanus and Ab-butt’s ancestors came from—and unless you’re 100% Native American, your ancestors came from SOMEWHERE—how about we ship those two criminals back to the nations of their forefathers?
Wow, it’s a win-win for everybody except for the asylum seekers who were promised expedited immigration, housing and jobs, only to find they were part of a cruel political ploy.
And how many of those rich folks do you think need maids and nannies and gardeners at their summer homes in the next few months? There’s barely enough work in winter for the small year-round population as it is.
Yeah, Martha’s Vineyard was a strange place to pick for the idiotic stunt. It already has a much larger immigrant population than the US as a whole (one group alone, Brazilians, accounts for 20% of its permanent population) and a per capita income much lower than Massachusetts as a whole.
Unfortunately, DeSantis will probably be re-elected this November. He only won by a fraction of 1% last time and his Disney idiocy alone might have normally cost him more votes than that, but the Democrats picked a REAL loser to run against him this time.
Well, I think in a way, it was sort of genius – in an evil genius way. They banked (correctly) on the fact that most Americans know the name Martha’s Vineyard, and know it has a reputation for wealth and is in a blue state — and don’t know much else. So they hear that immigrants were sent there and think that the Republicans are “sticking it to the libs!”
But they correctly assumed that most Americans don’t know — and won’t bother to find out — that the island is accessible only by plane or ferry, and that there’s been a major housing shortage there for some time now, and that even year-round residents struggle to find affordable housing.
Do you think DeSantis will run for gov again, or will he go for the presidential nomination? I think a lot of his performative antics — like the Disney debacle — indicate he might be gearing up for a presidential run. God help us all.
DeSantis is running for governor again. The election is in November. He can’t run again in 2026 (although he could in 2030 — the limit is two consecutive terms). But really he’s been running for president (in 2024 or 2028) since at least as far back as 2019. He’s a swamp creature, a political careerist who’s spent his entire adult life living on the taxpayers’ dime and climbing the ladder toward that big white house and the nice pension plan.
10.8% is Hispanic (in 2016) anyway. Besides, they are lumped in with “people of color” when the hustlers describe their communities.
Better to send them to places where they’ll be welcomed with cookies and milk and lodging, as indicated by these signs in the Vineyard:
‘we stand with immigrants… all are welcome here’ and are a SANCTUARY community.
They should open their hearts or tear down their pathetic, bs signs instead of showing the hypocrites they are. And, they have all kinds of vacant lodging because the very wealthy have probably already left, seeing summer is about over.
So please clarify how these people are supposed to find jobs or homes when both are already in short supply in the off seasons on MV?
Also, you may not be aware of this, but those are private homes — their owners get to decide what to do with them. Unless you’re pushing for the government to seize private property?
Homes are not in short supply and private homes would be the perfect residence for those who post signs about being sanctuaries.
You think jobs are waiting for the refuges in Texas and Florida or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe teach them jobs on the Vineyard – might make good fishermen?
“You think jobs are waiting for the refuges in Texas and Florida or anywhere else for that matter.”
Florida has about 600,000 unfilled job openings right now, with stores cutting their hours due to staff shortages and begging someone, anyone to come collect a paycheck.
But DeSantis would rather use Florida’s taxpayers as involuntary presidential campaign contributors than unleash the state’s economy to enhance prosperity.
A little itty bitty drop in the ocean regarding Florida’s (or Texas’) budget for that beautiful ploy. Well worth it, to hear the sanctuary locales bellyaching about those immigrants, like NYC and Chicago, and Washington
D.C. who talk the talk but shrink when confronted with the problems of cities and States that don’t agree with the unbridled mass movement of populations into the US without being vetted or following the common and common-sense rules for entry.
The jobs are earmarked for those moving to Florida from the Far Left States, and if Americans are not qualified for some (but not most) of those vacant jobs, how will the illegals be able to jump right into those. Lack of English language proficiency probably would be a stumbling block for most of those ready and willing to get off the welfare bonanza they are most likely currently satisfied with.
Where did you get that 600,000 job vacancies in Florida, from? I can’t find that anywhere, but maybe you have a better search verbiage than I do.
The Sanctuary States/Cities should get the brunt of the illegal alien population increases, because their professed “open arms” policies would be expected to more openly invite and welcome unvetted populations into their wonderful, charitable locales and then they will feel much better to help out their fellow humans by putting their actions where their mouths have been.
There are no “illegal population increases,” since the US Constitution clearly forbid the federal government to regulate immigration.
“Where did you get that 600,000 job vacancies in Florida, from?”
I said “about” 600,000. As of July, per the Miami Herald, the number was 588,000, up from 500,000 in May. So probably over 600k by now.
As for lack of English being handicap, not so much in Florida. More than 20% of the population are native Spanish speakers. I’ve watched non-English-speaking workers pick up the English they need quite quickly, but for practical purposes a large portion of e.g. construction and ag crews in Florida operate in Spanish anyway.
The reason DeSantis went to Texas to find some Venezuelans to import to Florida and then export to Massachusetts is because he’d never have held office in Florida again if he had just scooped up Cubans here.
Well at least Texas has authority then to “regulate” the illegals crossing into their State.
Never saw an article about DeSantis going to Texas for that “scoop up” operation, either.
My very conservative older brother owns a construction firm and has said if it wasn’t for his immigrant (mostly Hispanic) employees, he wouldn’t have a business. He tries to make sure their paperwork is in order but has his doubts that it’s all genuine.
He says they work hard, they show up every day and on time, and they don’t need babysitting to do the job properly. He has not had that experience with the American-born folks he’s hired.
Clearly, these folks are plenty employable.
My very conservative older brother owns a construction firm and has said if it wasn’t for his immigrant (mostly Hispanic) employees, he wouldn’t have a business. He tries to make sure their paperwork is in order but has his doubts that it’s all genuine.
He says they work hard, they show up every day and on time, and they don’t need babysitting to do the job properly. He has not had that experience with the American-born folks he’s hired.
Clearly, these folks are plenty employable.
Same damn near everywhere. I rarely go into a business without seeing a “help wanted” sign in the window. Many of our restaurants aren’t open every day because they don’t have enough staff to be open every day.
How do you know the political leanings of the particular homeowners? Have you been there and seen the signs in those exact yards?
I’d certainly be more welcoming to having those Hispanic folk reside in my state than the southerners who moved up here for good jobs at GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Us southerners who are still in the south would like to have them too. At least those of us who aren’t economically illiterate America-haters.
I see you’re big on empathy.
Of course, America has unlimited funds!
It’s almost like we are purchasing human rights abuses, our main foreign policy goal.
More printing presses running. How to destroy the dollar one foreign policy blunder at a time.
Jordan and Egypt are paid very handsomely by the United Snakes to Play Nice With Israel.
Why the the article fail to mention this?
“Uncle Sam’s got his hand in my pockets
And he helps himself each time he needs a dime
Those politicians treat me like a mushroom
Cause they feed me bull and keep me in the blind”
The important difference in the Israel aid is the fact, that Israel has ro purchase US weapons with that money. So the mo ey does come back to the US. Israel does provide the US with modifications and technological upgrades, which can be considered beneficial to the US.
While meanwhile slaughtering the indigenous Palestinian population with said weapons.
No point in making excuses for IsraHell.
“So the mo ey does come back to the US.”
But not to the people it was taken from.
“Israel does provide the US with modifications and technological upgrades, which can be considered beneficial to the US.”
But not for the people that paid for the weaponry that gets upgraded. Notice a trend here?
So much for giving the power of the purse to the legislature.
It’s like a horse race. ‘And pulling into third place is Jordan trailing only second place Israel and Ukraine which has surged into the lead. But wait, we have Tawain now coming up from the back of the pack and is closing fast……’
A great market for the merchants of death in Washington.
Taiwan is extremely important to be kept free against Chinese invasion plans. If Taiwan falls under China, there will be a disaster to be dealed with and China will become o much more dangerous foe to be contended with. We can all be for peace and criticise the military industrial complex, but it does not mean that every US intervention or military aid is always wrong, neither does it mean that US enemies should be sympathised with in every circumstance.
As long as people like you buy into the bullshit, you are absolutely correct. Just like Vietnam was essential to stopping communism from spreading across the globe.
the old “domino theory” again!! Laughable that the mongers still trot that one out. Just like the Cheney gang made up the bs about Saddam already planning the invasion of Saudi Arabia after Kuwait. The nimrods keep lapping that up even when disproven over and over.
Keep our noses out of every corner of the world – and there’d be less war, death, and destruction.
The heat from our money printing presses is quite intense. We are not a democracy or a republic. We are a national security state feeding war and war machines. Eisenhower’s words of warning ring true.
Prescient. We need another Ike as president..Unfortunately, we only have options between two warmongering parties…
That is not friendship it is business. And what exactly are the goals of the Americans in the ME? The real goal is for the USA and ISRAEL to be in control of the oil in the ME. That would explain the Iran issue. The monsters need to control the rich oil resources to rule the world, looks that way or not?
The King of Jordan is expensive but the Neocons think he’s worth it. How can he sleep at night knowing the death and misery he helped inflict on people and especially Syrians? See why Jordan was mentioned so many times in this article before they remove it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_Sycamore
Just exactly who is this “enemy” confronting Jordan? The closest thing to an enemy of Jordan is Israel.
I think it is extremely naive and also foolish to repeat the nonsensical argument that some activist NGO’s claim that Israel is an apartheid state. It is ridiculous claim. Palestinians are not israelis and do not live in Israel, hence a security barrier and checkpoints are appropriate since the palestinians are still officially at war with Israel. But palestinians who live in Israel and have israeli citizenship, can be judges and members of the parlament or high ranking officers in the IDF. Israel has unique security situation that should not be compared apples to apples with western countries that are not at war with their neighbors.
You need some education, pal.
Try the following websites:
If Americans Knew
Mondoweiss
Middle East Eye
Al Jazeera
Being a “citizen” in Israel is a lower class than being a National which is reserved only for a certain religion. Maybe recognize Gaza as a separate nation, represented in the UN, and tell them you will help them rebuild what you periodically destroy?
More Santa Claus antics by Biden, squandering Americans’ money.
Another $10 billion spent on Israel. That is the only reason we did this, and the only thing we get from it.
Just throw our billions of dollars out like candy to the MIC, inflation be damned.
The Obama vacation residence alone could have housed 50 immigrants on the Vineyard.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4956433ca8187567bea9f1e7535b2ca92589fa4a2d1f7f247f3a94ed52c73aef.jpg