The US will withhold $85 million in annual military aid to Egypt and redirect some of the funds to Taiwan, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The $85 million the US is withholding over human rights abuses is just a small portion of the $1.3 billion in military aid Egypt receives from the US each year.
The $85 million is in the form of Foreign Military Financing, a State Department program that gives foreign governments money to purchase US arms. According to CNN, Egypt receives $1 billion in FMF annually, and $320 million of those funds is conditional and tied to human rights issues.
Some members of Congress want President Biden to withhold the full $320 million, but for now, the administration has only announced its intention to transfer $85 million. Of that amount, $55 million will be redirected to Taiwan, and $30 million will go to Lebanon.
The US began providing Taiwan with military aid this year, an unprecedented form of support in the era of normalized US-China relations. Since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 to open up with Beijing, the US has sold weapons to Taiwan but never financed the purchases or provided arms free of charge until this year.
Last month, the US approved the first-ever FMF military aid package for Taiwan worth $80 million. In July, the Biden administration provided Taiwan with a weapons package using the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for the first time.
PDA allows President Biden to send weapons directly from US military stockpiles and is the primary way he’s been arming Ukraine. The PDA package for Taiwan was worth $345 million. The contents of the military aid packages for Taiwan have not been disclosed.
The US military aid for Taiwan has enraged China as Beijing opposes all forms of US military support for the island, especially new kinds of assistance. The US is arming Taiwan in the name of deterrence, but the policy is making war more likely as China has responded to the growing diplomatic and military ties between Washington and Taipei by putting the island under increasing military pressure.
Ah yes, we must be consistent – anything WASHINGTON supports is BAD, and anything they don’t support is GOOD! ‘cuz we can think for ourselves unlike those people who just agree with whatever the politicians say.
So it’s bad if the Taiwanese can defend themselves – clearly, that makes war more likely! Because, um, reasons. Oh yeah, I know – that means they’ll attack China! Yeah! We mustn’t make China feel threatened!
Also, didya know that only thirteen countries have recognized Taiwan as a country? That means we must only call them “the island”, cuz they really belong to China! The world’s politicians say so, which proves it – libertarians lift up the “almost no one recognizes Taiwan” in YouTube videos, social media and articles all the time. But we support Donbass breaking away from Ukraine despite almost all countries opposing that, because in that case WASHINGTON opposes independence.
Don’t forget this sorry assed country has never ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. That is good to know. Imagine how minorities or immigrants feel about the future. The entire fucking system is falling apart.
The Equal Rights Amendment was ratified as of January 15, 2020.
That’s debatable. The time to ratify expired and some states withdrew ratification.
The Constitution provides for neither “expiration dates” nor “withdrawals of ratification.” Its text on the subject is plain, exclusive, exhaustive, and clear.
Thank you I must have missed the joyous celebration. Now bring back equal pay and legalize abortion in Mississippi and other backward states
Taiwan has a right to defend themselves doesn’t mean the US has to give them weapons. Also Taiwan opposed Nancy Pelosi coming to the island.
They and China were engaging in backdoor negotiations as they have been doing for decades. The US came to destroy them getting close.
The US is playing 3 card monte with our money sending it everywhere except where it is needed HERE.Apparently a futile attempt to keep a destructive empire afloat is more nimportant then the health and well being of our citizens not tied to the military or the crooked politicians who are robbing us blind.
How about Shift Some Military Aid from Egypt, Taiwan to tax cuts for US taxpayers?
When pigs fly.
Time to throw Biden and company out of DC. Note to republicans: gin up a realistic slate of candidates who stand for building their own country back up to a standard that people can admire.
I know, I know, the people the GOP can field at present isn’t going to do it. But the only alternative re our current power structure I can perceive can be summed up as follows:
If the US does not go to war with China before 2025 they will get their asses kicked and all bets are off.
I have confidence in the US government re this issue in only one instance: they will likely succeed in provoking some kind of violence in the next few years. After all, this is the only thing our government is any good at any more.
It is a matter of opinion whether the US is good at making war is good for the American population and the rest of humanity.Most people that read Anti War have one way of thinking. The MIC and the Masters of Mankind have another.
???
/S ???
???
The US will hold $85 million from Egypt, a small portion of the $1.3 billion the US provides Cairo each year
in other words Egypt will still be getting approx $1.2 billion in gratuity from the US every year
The $85 million is in the form of Foreign Military Financing, a State Department program that gives foreign governments money to purchase US arms. According to CNN, Egypt receives $1 billion in FMF annually, and $320 million of those funds is conditional and tied to human rights issues.
Priorities. Now, go ahead and treat your people like dog shit. By the way, the whole $320 million would still be on its way if only we didn’t have some other wars to start.
Dare not take it form Israel’s dole!