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Saturday, September 25, 2021

[UPDATED] --- IRON DOME - Strib carries NYT op-ed bemoaning attempt to strip a budgeted billion to buy Israel that protection. Why not do that?

 Link. You can read the sophistry.

In a separate item Strib itself wrote:

The latest chapter in Democratic tensions over Israel came into view on Tuesday when $1 billion for the Iron Dome defense system was included, and then removed, from a larger package House Democrats were rushing to pass in an attempt to suspend the debt limit and avoid a government shutdown. Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who is Jewish, was vocal in his disappointment on the measure being removed, and Republicans were quick to call out Democrats even though no GOP lawmakers voted for the overarching bill on Tuesday.

"Speaker Pelosi should not have bowed to the Progressive Caucus and inexplicably removed our longstanding commitment to Israel to help fund the Iron Dome that protects innocent citizens from terrorist rockets from the Continuing Resolution," GOP U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach said in a statement about Tuesday's activity.

After the defense funding was removed, Democratic House leaders moved quickly to pass a stand-alone Iron Dome bill. Still, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, who chairs the influential House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and voted for Thursday's bill, noted in a statement her "serious concerns as to whether these funds can even be expended with current Iron Dome production levels already at capacity."

Omar was also the lone Democrat from Minnesota's House delegation to vote Thursday against the latest National Defense Authorization Act. Republicans Tom Emmer, Jim Hagedorn and Fischbach also voted no on the bill, which passed with bipartisan support on a 316-113 vote. Omar's office pointed out that she has voted against passing the annual legislation ever since taking office in 2019.

This is a very prosperous nation that has allowed spyware marketing of the Pegasus BS software so it can be inflicted upon the world. 

That is very unfriendly stuff. By Israelis.

As a very, very prosperous nation, designing Intel processors, etc., Israel can buy Iron Dome. Why in the world do we give it as a freeb from our taxpayers' hard-earned money - giving that freeb to them while also giving them other billions of money annually from U.S. taxpayer money

This is fact, from 1949 to present -- bottom line -- 

TOTAL = $147,121.46 [in millions of dollars]. or say one hundred fifty billion U.S. dollars, give or take a few billionThat ain't pocket change!

It makes no sense. 

Others doing death merchandise dealings with the U.S. pay for arms purchased. 

Israel is different? How so, beyond having a giant successful lobby effort and owning a host of DC politicians?

Suppose that the last sentence is a self-answering thing, but that is not how our nation should be. Running a government on corruption and lobby power is not The American Dream. 

That's how it is. Not as it should be. 

What has Israel provided back?

__________UPDATE__________

Strib carried an AP item beginning -

The top diplomat of Yemen's internationally recognized government said Monday his conflict-torn country needs millions more coronavirus vaccines to ensure some of the world's poorest are not left behind.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said the roughly 1 million doses Yemen was given are not enough to vaccinate even the most vulnerable portions of its population.

Yemen has a long way to go toward vaccinating the majority of its some 30 million people, most of whom are facing multiple humanitarian crises, including poverty, hunger and poor access to adequately run hospitals.

Try decency for a change? How much vaccine supply help would a dedicated billion dollars go to saving more lives than Iron Dome might ever save, and isn't it humane having vaccine help as something to aim at in the course of adopting a need-based foreign aid policy, and a harmonious attitude toward that goal among politicians and bureaucrats?

Those nations wealthy enough to buy arms should do so. If our beloved corporations are to be death merchants, the check should be picked up by the user, not our citizens. 

Meanwhile, those in need of vaccination help should be helped.

It is not rocket science to reach such conclusions. It is decency. AIPAC and other Israeli lobbying mojo should not rule the day. But so far it has. May we be so wise as to make foreign policy better as part of our part of the Davos Great Reset (a/k/a Pres-loved "Build Back Better" blather). And it shall remain blather unless and until two bills - companion measures - are BOTH set into law - as we have been promised. Welch out on that promise, and expect to have a Dem Pres and two Houses of Republican dominated Congress. Patience with DC is wearing thin via all talk no action, beyond ongoing Kabuki theater which is fooling nobody.

The mood seems clear. Do It. Or have no cred, with nobody buying into a blather of undelivered promises. Unkept despites the promising Party owning, thinly, both Congressional Houses, each with Dem leadership which seemingly is luke warm to deliver anything real upon an agenda overwhelmingly popular among the nation's population. 

Whether it be a disconnect among powers, or US simply and callously being lied to yet again as a two-party forever thing, is something soon to put to judgment. Trust Joe. But only to a degree and yet be vigilant to see what evolves. If there's a failure on promises, know who to hold accountable. If we've been deceived, then it is Trump all over again, the old "same old" but with Joe and with a D instead of an R behind his name. Which would amount to little difference. And also leading to dissatisfaction, earned and delivered.