From the ABC

US pledges humanitarian aid for Lebanon
The United States is providing a $A40 million aid package to help ease Lebanon's humanitarian crisis.

The announcement of the package comes as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Israeli and Lebanese politicians in a bid to help ease the conflict in the region.

Senior US State Department official David Welch says the package will include medical kits, plastic sheets and blankets.

He says US forces will begin airlifting supplies inside the next 24 hours.

Mr Welch made the announcement while travelling with Dr Rice, who has discussed aid with Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

"We knew this when we came in, but the immediacy of being in Beirut makes it very, very clear, there are some serious humanitarian problems," Mr Welch said.

United Nations relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland has launched an urgent appeal to raise $A200 million to help up to 800,000 Lebanese people made homeless because of Israel's attacks.

UNICEF's Beirut office says the amount was a drop in the bucket compared to the need.

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Gus: Sure... we let (authorise/enjoy/make-sure/delegate) our friend belt the s%$#* out of you, then we give you a few sticky plasters for your zillion broken bones and a few shovels to bury your dead...

And we can walk tall with a charitable gleaming smile...

From the BBC

Iran activist 'snubs White House'
By Daryoush Homaee
BBC World Service, Washington

Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji declined to meet White House officials during a visit to the US, he has told the BBC.Mr Ganji said he had been invited to discuss the current situation in Iran. The White House declined to comment.

He said he rejected the offer because he believed current US policies could not help promote democracy in Iran.

In a speech last week in Washington DC, he also criticised US policy in Iraq, saying: "You cannot bring democracy to a country by attacking it".

He added that the war in Iraq had helped Islamic fundamentalism and hampered the democracy movement in the region.

A group of Iranian dissidents met State Department official Nicholas Burns and Elliot Abrams, an adviser to the National Security Council, while Mr Ganji was in Washington last week.

Mr Ganji said he believed such meetings would undermine the credibility of the Iranian opposition.

However, Mr Ganji added that if Iranian opposition were united and they had a recognised leadership, they could negotiate with US officials to find the best ways of helping promote democracy and human rights in Iran.

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The NYT reports:

""""".....Ms. Rice’s long convoy of tinted-glass armored sport utlity vehicles then headed into West Beirut to.....""""

Yes, asks Gus, but do they come in pink?

Or white with a splatter of red — already soiled with the blood of innocents due to the "extension of one week" of bombing by the Moron-in-Chief? For which Ms Rice is the rabid guide-dog to a blind man? Unless she's the pick-pocket monkey to an organ grinder who's pumping out the same really annoying music day in day out?

From Al Jazeera

US government sued over safety

Tuesday 25 July 2006, 2:09 Makka Time, 23:09 GMT

A leading Arab-American advocacy group has sued the US government, claiming that it failed to protect American citizens from the fighting in Lebanon.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday on behalf of about 30 American citizens by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

It alleges that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defence, did not take all possible steps to secure the safety and well-being of US citizens when fighting erupted between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas.

The committee is asking the district court in Detroit to order the US government to request a ceasefire and to stop shipments of weapons or any other military support to Israel during the evacuation of US citizens from Lebanon.

"We just feel the US government has put its citizens at risk by supplying missiles when many US citizens are still there," said Nabih Ayad, the lawyer for suing committee and the citizens who were all in Lebanon.

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"What Secretary of State Rice describes as democratic 'birth pangs' in the Middle East look much more like a hangover from decades of diplomatic intoxication with pro-Israeli politics." ~~ Rami Khouri, AlterNet

"American officials are very good at vernacular descriptions, but lousy at history and political reality in the Middle East. As U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sets off Sunday on her short trip to a Middle East that is increasingly engulfed in violent confrontations and political turmoil, she has described the massive destruction, dislocation and human suffering in Lebanon as an inevitable part of the "birth pangs of a new Middle East".

From my perspective here in Beirut, watching American-supplied Israeli jets smash this country to smithereens, what she describes as "birth pangs" look much more like a wicked hangover from a decades-old American orgy of diplomatic intoxication with the enticements of pro-Israeli politics."

Condi Rice's Mid-East Fantasy Ride.

You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation. ~~ Marian Wright Edelman

From the New York Times

Top Iraqi’s White House Visit Shows Gaps With U.S.

By EDWARD WONG
Published: July 25, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 24 — When Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visits the White House on Tuesday for the first time, he is expected to make requests that clash sharply with President Bush’s foreign policy, Iraqi officials say, signaling a widening gap between the Iraqis and the Americans on crucial issues.

The requests will include asking President Bush to allow American-led troops in Iraq to be tried under Iraqi law, and to call for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, according to several Iraqi politicians, and to a senior member of Mr. Maliki’s party who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak for the prime minister.

Mr. Maliki is also expected to demand more autonomy for Iraqi forces, though he will not ask for a quick withdrawal of the 134,000 American troops here, the officials say.

The growing differences between Iraqi and American policies reflect an increasing disenchantment with American power among politicians and ordinary Iraqis, according to several politicians, academics and clerics. Sectarian violence has soared despite the presence of the Americans, and recent cases where American troops have been accused of killing civilians or raping Iraqi women have infuriated the public.

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Gus: Is this for real? Is this the start of a necessary awakening? Is this fudge...?

Why is this posted in advance? Is this a fake list of demand in order to appear in charge? When the meeting takes place, will we see a buttering up of the US boots? Hum...

Will the White House turn the problem around with more platitudes and framing of the debate? All ending in a "shared" purpose — to defeat "eveel", etc... — wtih nothing a-changing?

Once again, Gerard Henderson (SMH — Mythology loses out to the facts, July 25, 2006) uses facts the same way as Harvey Krumpet — to end up on the same bench waiting for the bus that never comes, at the Asylum for the steel-plated in the head...

"""""The Mearsheimer-Walt article contained some significant historical and contemporary errors. For example, the authors wrote that "Israel was explicitly founded as a Jewish state and citizenship is based on the principle of blood kinship". Not so. There are more than 1 million Arab Israelis, about 20 per cent of the population of the state.""""" says our Mr Henderson, moving on to the Jewish only roads also used by the Arab Israelis... later on...

Mr Henderson, I might take a bath here, but let me say Jews AND Arabs ARE of the same blood... but somewhat different faith.

Before modern Israel was created, Palestine had a mix of Jews and Arab that coexisted in "harmony" together. They even inter-married. Further more, I would suggest all come from the same "Abraham" tribe... A few Jews had been expelled from "Israel" (the Benjamin tribe if my memory serves me well) and became the "wandering Jews" across the European landscape. Some were expelled from Europe as far back as the 15th century from Spain and went on to live in Turkey... But all in all, the past conflicts and the present conflict are between "brothers" (please do a DNA test)... The present problem started when Europe (and the US) saw that the "Jewish problem" (exacerbated by Hitler) could be solved neatly by sending as many of them to the Palestine and "why not give it" to the "wandering Jews" in the bargain... Most of the locals were not impressed. They were dispossessed and sent to refugee camps across borders or given the crummy bits that were desert at the time — bits that an ever-expanding Israel now want for its own use, like the West Bank... A few "terrorists" acts took place including the bombing of English bits by some Jews here and there but the plot to relocate went reasonably smoothly... It is well known from those who study the bible in detail that the Day of Reckoning — Judgement Day — would come as soon as all the Jews were assembled once again in the promised land... (funny, I know... my father, probably an enlightened joking Jew, who loved life as is, was trying in jest to stop our neighbour to join the "exodus")... All up, this comes to a lot of crap but then, why not spread a bit more mustard...

But back to these Jewish roads only... sure the technicality is finely used but the reality is that Israeli Arabs suffer a bit in Israel and most survive there as a token gesture, and may be retained to a point as a "protection" racket... In the mean time one should not forget that many "terrorist" organisations like Hizbollah were created as answers to Israel's aggression in wherever and to the killing of defenceless Arabs, by the truck loads...

Yes, """"Although defined collectively as Arab citizens of Israel, the Arab Israeli sector includes a number of different groups - primarily Arabic-speaking - each with its distinct identity.
Muslim Arabs, the largest group, constitute three-quarters of the Arab Israeli sector and most are Sunni Muslims. Nearly one-tenth of Israel's Muslim Arabs are Bedouins, formerly nomadic shepherds. Christian Arabs form the second largest group in the Arab Israeli sector. Although many denominations are nominally represented, the majority of the Christian Arabs are affiliated with the Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. The Druze, some 100,000 Arabic-speakers living in 22 villages in northern Israel, are a separate cultural, social and religious community. The Circassians, comprising some 3,000 people, are Sunni Muslims, although they share neither the Arab origin nor the cultural background of the larger Islamic community. While maintaining a distinct ethnic identity, they participate in Israel's economic and national affairs without assimilating either into Jewish society or into the general Muslim community."""" (Official Jewish source)

But:"''''''There are many players and actors in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are, the Muslims, the Jews, the Americans, the Politicians, the Christians, The Activists, the Children, the Arab neighbors, the list can go on, but one group that we tend not to think of right away is the Arab-Israeli citizens. Arab-Israelis are native Palestinians who chose not to leave their land in 1948 and in return they accepted Israeli citizenship and accepted an undeclared 2nd class status. Some Israelis will say that the Arab-Israelis are treated quite well, citing their 10 members in the Knesset and Israel’s commitment to "ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex" and guarantees "freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture". Others who have seen the reality of the discrimination will tell a completely different story, They will speak of segregation, lack of funding, and laws that are created and actions that are taken to coerce the people from their homes and land."""""" (Official US source)

The only way to solve the Middle East problem after so many years of bad will, including from the UN, is to — without FAVOURS or expectation of greed (Am I serious?) — solve the problem PEACEFULLY and equitably. This the US does not want to do because it is using Israel a a beachhead for its own petroleum interests, and the JEWISH lobby in its ranks control much of the right-wing US thinking. This, extremist Arabs do not want because they have been robbed and are not likely to forget...

Isn't this strange, that Hitlerian thoughts have permeated the Jewry and the Arabia... tainting the US own "freedoms"... Unless we wake up to the con, we're in for the rough ride... And our media spruik of "SURPRISE visit to Lebanon first" by La Rice is a bit thick in disgenuiness. La Rice HAD to go to Lebanon first to show that SHE had the power to arrest the Israeli's bombing of Beirut, a bit like a Jesus' miracle, turning wine into water... You know what I mean... But then after she left...

Meeting Rice, Olmert Says Offensive Will Continue

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 25, 2006
Filed at 4:03 a.m. ET

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, leading the first high-level U.S. diplomatic mission since war broke out in Lebanon, said Tuesday the time has come for a new Middle East and an urgent end to the violence hanging over the region.

''I have no doubt there are those who wish to strangle a democratic and sovereign Lebanon in its crib,'' Rice said. ''We, of course, also urgently want to end the violence.''

Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they prepared to meet in his office, Rice reiterated the United States position that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon must come with conditions that make an enduring peace. She said she has ''no desire'' to be back in weeks or months after terrorists find another way to disrupt any potential cease fire.

''It is time for a new Middle East,'' she said. ''It is time to say to those that don't want a different kind of Middle East that we will prevail. They will not.''

Olmert welcomed Rice warmly and vowed that ''Israel is determined to carry on this fight against Hezbollah.'' He said his government ''will not hesitate to take severe measures against those who are aiming thousands of rockets and missiles against innocent civilians for the sole purpose of killing them.''

____________________________

Gus: This is an utter disgrace from the US, the most "civilised" country on earth... but then... It may have economic pants but no philosophical guts. What olmert is basically saying "we will carry on killing people no matter what until we get what we want...".... This is beyond the pale... Whatever one thinks of Hizbollah and its action, whatever one thinks that Israel will wipe Hizbollah of the surface of the planet, one has to recognise that such organisation do not exist just for fun but in reaction to injustice... Hizbollah is not just a few badly aimed rockets but an idea that cannot be defeated by force. To the contrary, the resentment that is created by the destruction inflicted on Lebanon by Israel, will fruit in decades to come in more dangerous forms... all this meaning that war of some sort will go on... The only way to arrest the rot is to negotiate... properly without prejudices...

I am living in dreamland, aren't I?

I have another dream... I dream that the Secretary of State, Condi Rice, experiences some of the birth pangs of her new middle east... Like getting bombed and having a leg taken off...

I know I would not wish this on my worst enemy if I had one. But for someone prepared to deliberately let other people suffer horrible deaths and injuries, no matter the reasons — good or for an illusion of grandeur geopolitical context — it is only fair that they do experience the same fate... Maybe her karma might catch up one day...

I do not wish that to her but I truly wish she'd stop impersonating a good person.

From the Guardian

Bush Says Some U.S. Forces to Shift to Baghdad

By DAVID STOUT
Published: July 25, 2006
WASHINGTON, July 25 — President Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, embraced the same vision of an emerging democratic Iraq today, but they made it clear they still have deep differences over Israel’s campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah.

Mr. Bush praised the courage of the Iraqi people, who he said were making “enormous sacrifices” to secure their own freedom. And Mr. Maliki said he and the president discussed how to build “a democratic, united, flourishing Iraq.” The leaders also announced a plan to significantly bolster American troop strength in Baghdad to help quell continuing violence in the city.

But they remained far apart on how to stop the bloodshed in Lebanon, where Israel is trying to stifle Hezbollah and take away its ability to harm Israel with rocket attacks and commando raids.

“I told him I support a sustainable cease-fire that will bring about an end to violence,” Mr. Bush said at a half-hour news conference at the White House, after private talks that both men described as wide-ranging, frank and friendly.

From the Independent

As Rice arrives, Olmert threatens 'severe measures'
AP
Published: 25 July 2006
Israel is determined to keep fighting Hizbollah and will take "severe measures" against the Lebanese guerrillas, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today, indicating there will be no let-up in Israel's two-week military offensive...

From the Washington Post

It's Disproportionate. . .
By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, July 25, 2006; Page A15

Just my luck. I go away on vacation and it happens to be the week when George W. Bush's strategic view of the current world situation is revealed: Russia big. China big, too. World leaders boring. Lady world leaders need neck rub. Terrorism bad. Elections good (when the right people get elected). Israel good. Time to go home yet?

I felt better when I thought the Decider didn't have a worldview, just a set of instincts about freedom and democracy. But even if you set aside the president's embarrassing open-mike performance at the Group of Eight summit, which is hard to do, events of the past week show that this administration actually thinks it knows what it's doing. Bush and his folks haven't just blundered around and created this dangerous mess, they've done it on purpose. And they intend to make it worse.

read more of this fellow at the Washington Post... He's good.
_________________

''''"Bush and his folks haven't just blundered around and created this dangerous mess, they've done it on purpose. And they intend to make it worse."""" Exactly what Gus has been saying for a long time... The bumbling idiot routine is wearing thin...

From the American Conservative, April 10 Issue

.........
During the 1990s, however, Iran and the U.S. were not drifting toward war. The obvious question, then, is what has changed? The answer is to be found in George W. Bush’s grand strategy, the so-called Bush Doctrine, the three key components of which are rejection of deterrence in favor of preventive/pre-emptive military action; determination to shake up the politics of the Persian Gulf and Middle East; and extension of U.S. dominance over that region. Here, administration officials betrayed a naïveté about international politics. States and the regimes that rule them want to survive, which means they are very sensitive to external threats to their security. The Bush Doctrine heightened Iran’s sense of vulnerability, which resulted in an acceleration of its nuclear program. In this respect, the administration’s policy—particularly President Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech—had the effect of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy: it made U.S. relations worse than they already were and triggered a self-defensive reaction by Tehran.

read more at the American Conservative...

This blog is directed to Gerard Henderson of the SMH, so he can straighten a few "facts" in his head... See my blog earlier on this line "My brother's blood is the same colour"... In his article, GH argued something about the Jewish lobby not having much weight in US politics... Sure, Gerard, such influence is not so obvious as a Rabbi asking president Bush to go and bomb Arab nations every five minutes... But there are strong unseen under-currents that enforce the jewish influence. Note: this strong influence is not an "exclusive" grab and nicely takes care of buttering the Saudis in order to make a commercial bee-line for their oil... while in regard to the Iraqis nothing like a little war to remove the oil from the hands of the Europeans and the Ruskies...

Anything for a buck...
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From somewhere in the ether...

THE STRATEGIC FUNCTIONS OF U.S. AID TO ISRAEL

By Stephen Zunes

Dr. Zunes is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco

Since 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. Indeed, all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been forgiven by Congress, which has undoubtedly helped Israel's often-touted claim that they have never defaulted on a U.S. government loan. U.S. policy since 1984 has been that economic assistance to Israel must equal or exceed Israel's annual debt repayment to the United States. Unlike other countries, which receive aid in quarterly instalments, aid to Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the U.S. government to borrow from future revenues. Israel even lends some of this money back through U.S. treasury bills and collects the additional interest.

In addition, there is the more than $1.5 billion in private U.S. funds that go to Israel annually in the form of $1 billion in private tax-deductible donations and $500 million in Israeli bonds. The ability of Americans to make what amounts to tax-deductible contributions to a foreign government, made possible through a number of Jewish charities, does not exist with any other country. Nor do these figures include short- and long-term commercial loans from U.S. banks, which have been as high as $1 billion annually in recent years.

Total U.S. aid to Israel is approximately one-third of the American foreign-aid budget, even though Israel comprises just .001 percent of the world's population and already has one of the world's higher per capita incomes. Indeed, Israel's GNP is higher than the combined GNP of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. With a per capita income of about $14,000 [US], Israel ranks as the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world; Israelis enjoy a higher per capita income than oil-rich Saudi Arabia and are only slightly less well-off than most Western European countries.

AID does not term economic aid to Israel as development assistance, but instead uses the term "economic support funding." Given Israel's relative prosperity, U.S. aid to Israel is becoming increasingly controversial. In 1994, Yossi Beilen, deputy foreign minister of Israel and a Knesset member, told the Women's International Zionist organization, "If our economic situation is better than in many of your countries, how can we go on asking for your charity?"
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Gus: Facts and figures re the full amount of money spent by the US on Israel are available.
So is information on:

the amount of secret help given to Israel, such as starting its nuclear industry to make nuclear bombs, from 1963 onwards (the French had helped with the Israeli reactors earlier)

the massive flow of bombs made in the US and the flow of Israeli made bullets "sold" to the US to be used against Arab nations (like in the Iraq war, for example).

help by French government... Quote:

''''''''''21 September 1956
Israeli Director-General of the Defense Ministry Shimon Peres meets with French Foreign Minister Maurice Bourges-Maunoury, who agrees to provide Israel with a nuclear reactor. The agreement is reached at a secret meeting held outside Paris where they also finalize the specifics of Israel's role in the Suez Canal operation. Israeli support in the Suez operation is accepted in exchange for French aid to Israel's nuclear efforts. """"""""

---------------------------------
From another source:

DAVID BEN-GURION ZIONIST-SOCIALIST Davidson, Lawrence, Zionism, socialism and United States support for the Jewish colonization of Palestine in the 1920s.., Vol. 18, Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), 06-01-1996, pp 1(16).
( Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ) )

There can be no doubt that Zionism in Palestine from the 1920s onward was increasingly dominated by socialists. As Walter Laqueur tells us: "Labor Zionism emerged as [the movement's] strongest political force. Its growth and the impact of its ideas were of decisive importance, for it shaped the character of the Zionist movement and subsequently the state of Israel. . . ." Moreover, in the 1920s the Zionist socialists, or "Labor Zionists" were "powerfully attracted by Russian Socialism and its leaders."(11)

Among the main leaders of this Zionist socialist phenomenon was David Ben Gurion. For Ben Gurion it was Palestine's destiny to be "developed as a socialist Jewish state."(12) Here the model was the early Soviet state. "We are following a new path," Ben Gurion explained in 1921, "which contradicts developments in the whole world except Russia." (13) This led him to pay homage to the Soviet Union for "her great spiritual influence on our movement and our work in Palestine."(14) In these years Ben Gurion came to "idolize Lenin" and "he even adopted the dress of the Soviet leaders - a quasi military uniform of rough wool."(15)

Behind Ben Gurion was a growing and well organized Zionist socialist organization. It began as a group called Poale Zion (Workers of Zion) based largely in Eastern Europe and Palestine. From this beginning it merged in March of 1919 with like-minded Zionist organizations to form Adhut Ha'avodah, a socialist party that largely controlled the Jewish immigrant absorption process in Palestine and would come to dominate the Histadrut, the labor federation that would eventually organize and control much of the Jewish economic structure in Palestine and, later, Israel.(16) Under Ben Gurion's leadership Adhut Ha'avodah evolved as a party that "followed the Russian model".(17)

The evolving socialist nature of Zionism in Palestine was ultimately accepted and actively supported by most of the leaders of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). Men like Chaim Weizmann, who were not themselves socialists or communists, nonetheless became convinced that it would only be by a socialist line of economic development that all available resources could be directed toward the rapid absorption of a maximum number of Jewish immigrants.(18) In the early 1920s, Weizmann observed that middle- and upper-class Jews from Europe or the United States were not moving to Palestine in significant numbers. Only the Jewish working class of Europe had the desire to immigrate in numbers high enough to "upbuild" Palestine and make it Jewish. Those Jews with money to invest who did immigrate behaved like good capitalists and hired the cheapest labor they could find. This turned out to be the local Arab population and not their fellow Jews.(19)

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Goodbye Kibutz... welcome Das Kapital...

From the ABC

Annan's bombing claims 'shock' Israel
Israel's United Nations (UN) ambassador says he is "shocked" by accusations from UN chief Kofi Annan that the Jewish state may have deliberately targeted a UN post in Lebanon in an air raid.

Four UN military observers have died in the strike on the post in the border town of Khiam.

Mr Annan describes the strike as a "coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked UN post".

But Israeli ambassador Dan Gillerman says the secretary-general has judged the incident too soon.

"I was shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement by the secretary-general insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post at Khiam and surprised at these premature and erroneous assertions," he told BBC World Service.

"The secretary-general, while demanding an investigation, has already issued his conclusions.

"Israel is carrying out a thorough inquiry into this tragic incident and we will inform the UN of its results as soon as possible."

Israel's Foreign Ministry has expressed its "deep regret" over the deaths of the UN observers.

"The ministry expresses its deep regret for the tragic death of the staff of the United Nations in Lebanon," a communiqué said.

"Israel does not target UN staff, and since the beginning of the conflict Israel has deployed all its efforts to ensure the safety of those staff in the region."

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Gus: it's uncanny how a well-defined, fully marked UN post with big UN letters marked on the ground that can be seen from 150 miles from the earth can be mistaken for an Hizbollah terrorist's nest... Obviously Israel "has NOT deployed all its efforts to ensure the safety of those staff in the region."

Please forgive the sorry degraded state of the language here... I am only using the "official vernacular of the President of the United States" (read his discussion with Yo-Blair} when describing something that was upsetting his digestion of events...

Much has been made of the Syrian and Iranian origin of weaponry used by Hezbollah but there has been little discussion of where Israel's weapons come from. A new report by the World Policy Institute examines how the United States provides billions of dollars of military aid to Israel each year and how their current arsenal is composed of U.S made equipment.

Frida Berrigan is a Senior Research Associate with the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute. She is co-author of the report.

TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: One of the authors of the report joins us now, Frida Berrigan. She’s Senior Research Associate with the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute. Welcome to Democracy Now!

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, tell us what are the weapons being used? Did you also look at where the weapons that Hezbollah is using comes from?

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Sure. Almost all of the weapons used by Israel are from the United States. There might be a couple French fighter planes that they’re using, but its F-16s made in Fort Worth, Texas; its Apache helicopters; its Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles; it’s all from the United States. So you have this real disconnect between an overemphasis on the supply by Iran and Syria of Hezbollah's weapons and no discussion of the fact that all of the Israeli arsenal is from the United States, and that that is in contravention to U.S. law. to the Arms Export Control Act, which says that U.S.-origin weapons are only to be used for self-defense and for internal security.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And your report indicates that Israel has always been the largest recipient of military aid from the United States, but that that’s actually increased since 2001?

FRIDA BERRIGAN: We’re looking at incredible increases in U.S. military aid and weapons sales to Israel. Military aid stands at about $3 billion a year. That’s about $500 for every Israeli citizen that the United States provides on an annual basis. And then, weapons sales, most recently, since the Bush administration came into power, we’re looking at $6.3 billion worth of weaponry sold to Israel.

Israel's relationship with the United States is unique in a number of ways. And one of those ways is that essentially the United States provides 20% of the Israeli military budget on an annual basis, and then about 70% of that money that is given from the United States, from U.S. taxpayers, to Israel is then spent on weapons from Lockheed Martin and Boeing and Raytheon. Most other countries don't have that sort of cash relationship, where they go straight to U.S. corporations with U.S. money to buy weapons that are then used in the Occupied Territories and against Lebanon.

AMY GOODMAN: What kind of leverage does the U.S. money, the U.S. aid for Israel provide?

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Well, when you’re talking about 20% of the Israeli military budget, you’re talking about a huge fulcrum of leverage, right? The United States could today say, you know, “This incursion into Lebanon, the killing of civilians, the bombing in Gaza, all of this is not internal security, all of this is not self-defense, and we’re cutting it off.” And they could cut it off tomorrow. And that would essentially not only send an incredibly strong message to the Israeli military, but it would remove the tools of the occupation, the tools of the bloodshed and the suffering that’s happening in Lebanon and in Gaza.

It was interesting to sort of place the very weak statements that have come from the administration -- “Oh, there should be” -- you know, they have said things, like “They should practice restraint,” and stuff like that. Meanwhile, just on the 14th, the United States decided to sell $120 million worth of jet fuel to the Israeli military. The little notice that announced the sale from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said, “This fuel will be used to promote peace and security in the region.” And then, meanwhile, you have jets strafing villages, bombing civilians, taking out bridges, destroying water treatment plants. So the United States could decide and would have a very strong case and a historic precedent for deciding to cut military aid.

AMY GOODMAN: What’s the precedent?

FRIDA BERRIGAN: In 1981, the last time there was a full-on invasion by the Israeli government into Lebanon, the Reagan administration cut military aid and froze weapons sales to Israel, while it did an investigation of whether or not the weapons were being used for self-defensive and internal security purposes. So for ten weeks in 1981, nothing went into Israel. Now, at the end of that ten weeks, they said, “Oh, well, you could argue ’til eternity about what constitutes defensive use of weapons.” But under the Reagan administration, while Alexander Hague was the Secretary of State, we did cut off weapons sales and military aid. And we certainly haven't done that since. And when we look at how the conflict and the war continues to unfold with so many civilians being killed and this bare use of force and power by the Israeli military, it seems like it’s time to explore that option again.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, one of the things that’s gotten a lot of attention in recent days have been the missiles fired by Hezbollah into Israel. But I see by your report that to some degree the Hezbollah missiles might also almost be seen as a self-defense measure, because you have here a thousand Redeye missiles that Israel has, surface-to-air missiles, 400 Stinger man-portable air defense missiles, 444 Harpoon missiles. So Israel has quite an extensive missile arsenal of its own.

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Right, we’re talking about one of the strongest militaries in the world going up against basically the defenseless Lebanese, and then a, you know, not very well armed Hezbollah. There was an article in the newspaper yesterday that quoted Israeli defense officials, who said, “Maybe 900 Hezbollah missiles have hit Israeli territory.” That’s 900 missiles, and probably 30 Israeli civilians have been killed. So they’re obviously not very effective weapons. They do get weapons from Syria, from Iran. They manufacture their own weapons. But --

AMY GOODMAN: You’re talking about the New York Times quoting the Fajr-3 from Syria?

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Right, yeah. There was an article in the Times, I think on Monday, about Iranian missiles being used by Hezbollah, and they pulled Syria in, too, because Syria was producing an Iranian model missile and then had transferred it to Hezbollah. So, but the missiles haven't been very effective, and they can’t -- the range is between 30 and 45 miles.

AMY GOODMAN: You talk about, Frida Berrigan, the U.S. government supporting the Israeli government and military. But this kind of weapons relationship also is a great boon to the U.S. weapons manufacturers. Can you talk about the relationship the U.S. has with these weapons manufacturers and name them?

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Sure. Well, the largest weapons manufacturer in this country is Lockheed Martin. It’s based in Texas. And it manufactures the F-16 fighter plane, all manner of missiles. It manufactures the C-130, which is a huge transport plane. It’s the biggest weapons manufacturer in the world.

Lockheed Martin and the Israeli military recently went into business together, co-producing a version of the F-16 fighter plane called the Sufa, which means “storm” in Hebrew. It’s built partially outside of Tel Aviv, and then the final work is done in Ft. Worth, Texas. It’s a $4 billion deal with the Israeli military. For the first time, an Israeli military company is contributing in its manufacturing the avionics of the plane. So there’s this -- it’s almost this supranational relationship between Lockheed Martin and the Israeli defense industry. It’s a kind of relationship that weapons corporations in this country would like to see with other countries, where they work directly with -- they sort of transcend government and work directly with the manufacturers of weapons in other countries.

Another major corporation -- you mentioned the missiles -- is Raytheon, which is based in Massachusetts. They manufacture the Tomahawk missile, the Sidewinder, a number of other high-tech missiles that Israel has in its arsenal. These missiles have very sophisticated targeting components -- heat-seeking, they’re interfaced with GPS for very targeted attacks.

Boeing is another major corporation. They manufacture all sorts of planes: the F-18 fighter plane, the F-14. So you have maybe ten weapons corporations in this country that have a stake in -- essentially in Israel using its military arsenal so that it can be replenished again. And the great thing about this relationship with Israel is, Israel doesn’t have to pay for it itself. It comes directly from U.S. taxpayers in the form of foreign military financing, which is transferred to Israel, and then turns right back around and goes to Lockheed Martin or Raytheon. 

JUAN GONZALEZ: And as we can see by the votes in Congress this week, both in the House and Senate, supporting the current military actions of Israel, there doesn't seem to be much opposition in Congress to this kind of a continued arms support from the United States for Israel.

FRIDA BERRIGAN: Right, yeah. You have complete silence, and worse than silence from the U.S. Congress. So there's got to be some way to go around Congress and hold the defense corporations, these military corporations, directly responsible for what their hardware and software is doing in Lebanon and Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: Frida Berrigan, I want to thank you for being with us, of the World Policy Institute, just out with its report.

US Arming Of Israel

Yes Gus, remember the "Liberty"?

Israel has shown itself to be in thrawl of its military power & its capacity to alienate, oppress, torture & murder any that oppose its Zionist ambitions.

Given their reckless criminal disposition, why would cleaning-up a few UN "peace-keepers" be a problem, particularly if they might have witnessed something that the Israelis want to keep hidden?

But of even greater disgust to me is the failure of the Australian government to publicly condemn the atrocities being perpetrated by "our friend" Israel.

The rodent positively salivated over the crimes of Saddam, no matter that it was more than 20 years after they were committed, & was out of the blocks in a flash over a couple of fire-fights in East Timor but hey, having picked-up his little Zionist Good Behavior Award only a month or so ago, I suppose it's hardly surprising that he's adopted his Cole pose: see nothin', hear nothin', know nothin' .....

Just another obscenity but, shamefully, it's awstraylen. 

Yes John,
Hizbollah is no more a terrorist organisation than Israel is... It's only a label of convenience immorally stuck on a people who have been dispossessed and victimised as much as possible by their Zionist neighbour. In return they have paid back in kind, but it's only small change compared to the enormous firepower accorded to Israel by the US.

The Labelling of Hizbollah as a terrorists organisation has been a neat US cop-out to facilitate the annihilation of a people who could still have claims on some Israeli territories... and people who have genuine claims against oppression from Israel.

In fact many people who are being killed and injured are as much as peace lovers as any one in this country... They bleed as much.

Our salivating duplicitist government and our dumb opposition are a disgrace.

Until the full knowledge of the genocide done here is recognised and accepted by our political leaders, Australians... we are being robbed of our fair and just desires of peace.

At the moment it is Hezbullah that is providing the Lebanese refugees with food, water and shelter from the Zionist bombs, looking more and more like heroes to the terrified people of Lebanon and to the terrified refugees from many countries around the world who are still trapped in the madness. Every day more and more young Lebanese are going from the graves of their families right into the Hezbullah training camps. Every civilian death is a recruitment poster for Hezbullah and other so called "terrorist" organizations. Every civilian death in Gaza brings in more recruits for Hamas. The Zionists claim as their goal to destroy Hezbullah and Hamas, but instead they are creating a Hydra. Is this a case of killing the children so they can't grow up and carry guns? Sure looks like it to me.

You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation. ~~ Marian Wright Edelman