USA Finances hezbollah's Efforts in Lebanon
Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others. --Winston Churchill
***
$230 Million to Aid Lebanon from the USA?
We might as well write the check directly to hezbollah. Another US disconnect. We support Israel. Israel is attacked by hezbollah. Hezbollah wins the media war. The UN convinces Israel to not wipe out hezbollah in Lebanon but to cease fire and go home. We send Iran/hezbollah/Lebanon--"hezbanon"--a big check so it can rebuild... and say that we think the UN should really keep an eye on the goings on in Lebanon this time.
That's the same people who gave us 1559 unenforced for 28 years. And the same people who have already reneged on the part of the current compromise where Hezbollah was going to be disarmed. (Think: UN track record...oh, that's right. It has none--unless you want to discuss corruption and misuse of power.)
We must have a death wish for our friends in Israel... not to mention our own interests in the region. It's the old saw: With friends like us, who needs enemies?
And there's no strings on our "aid." We don't even drive a "soft" deal in return for our assistance.
*** Technical note and important Link Information: Cut and paste this address:
http://usinfo.state.gov/
xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x
=20060821125057esnamfuaK0.4229395
for link and attribution to quote and content used below. It's necessary to know that this site will not allow a link-through from a blog site, even a cut and pasted link won't work if your last page was a blog that's linked through before. In most cases, you will need to go to another page--say, your homepage, from which to cut and paste the usinfo.state.gov archived URL. Not sure how they block in this way, but I'm sure many of you do know. ***
Hezbanon gets free money and wheat--it's already been announced as a done deal (after all hezbollah's got to be able to bulk up for the next go 'round).
On the other hand, Israel might get a rebuilding "loan" from us when congress gets around to discussing it. In other words, it's nowhere near their agenda yet.
The kicker to this gift is that we are also sending money and training to rebuild hezbanon's military... (and I'm quoting the USInfo.state.gov article--URL above). Emphasis below is mine:
"Other proposed U.S. assistance includes a $42 million package to help train and equip Lebanon's armed forces, and an upcoming presidential delegation of private-sector leaders that will visit the country to identify ways in which American businesses and nonprofit organizations can help."
Training and equipping hezbanon's armed forces? Are we serious? I guess Condi, the President, or someone stayed up nights thinking this one up. But.......my question is....Why? Why do anything at all? We didn't have to do anything more than send our Marines to evacuate the hordes in harms way and support our friend, Israel, at the UN and around the world. It wasn't our war--for once. And Israel was doing so well! Of course it had to be stopped! We can't have someone winning outright against hezbollah, now can we?
Now that it's over, or on hiatus, even looking as if we are propping up a "pretend" government which, by the way, is in LOVE with and, demonstatedly powerless against, Iran is way beyond wrong.
That we are propping up and funding the military of an extension government of Iran, a country that has demonstrated itself to be one of our, and Israel's, most imminent nuclear adversaries is also beyond stupid.
That we are propping up and funding rebuilding of hezbanon with the hopes that our sharing our capitalist resources and personnel will motivate hezbanon to the point of gratitude and loyalty to the US, is foolish at best and unrealistic by any measure.
I'd like to look at the glass as half-full, a real opportunity for democracy to take root, but denial of the reality in a situation is not the first step toward any relationship.
Who's the fool for funding its enemies around the world?
***
Cartoon credit: Coxandforkum.com permalink here.
***
google search for usinfo.state.gov link above
***
$230 Million to Aid Lebanon from the USA?
We might as well write the check directly to hezbollah. Another US disconnect. We support Israel. Israel is attacked by hezbollah. Hezbollah wins the media war. The UN convinces Israel to not wipe out hezbollah in Lebanon but to cease fire and go home. We send Iran/hezbollah/Lebanon--"hezbanon"--a big check so it can rebuild... and say that we think the UN should really keep an eye on the goings on in Lebanon this time.
That's the same people who gave us 1559 unenforced for 28 years. And the same people who have already reneged on the part of the current compromise where Hezbollah was going to be disarmed. (Think: UN track record...oh, that's right. It has none--unless you want to discuss corruption and misuse of power.)
We must have a death wish for our friends in Israel... not to mention our own interests in the region. It's the old saw: With friends like us, who needs enemies?
And there's no strings on our "aid." We don't even drive a "soft" deal in return for our assistance.
*** Technical note and important Link Information: Cut and paste this address:
http://usinfo.state.gov/
xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x
=20060821125057esnamfuaK0.4229395
for link and attribution to quote and content used below. It's necessary to know that this site will not allow a link-through from a blog site, even a cut and pasted link won't work if your last page was a blog that's linked through before. In most cases, you will need to go to another page--say, your homepage, from which to cut and paste the usinfo.state.gov archived URL. Not sure how they block in this way, but I'm sure many of you do know. ***
Hezbanon gets free money and wheat--it's already been announced as a done deal (after all hezbollah's got to be able to bulk up for the next go 'round).
On the other hand, Israel might get a rebuilding "loan" from us when congress gets around to discussing it. In other words, it's nowhere near their agenda yet.
The kicker to this gift is that we are also sending money and training to rebuild hezbanon's military... (and I'm quoting the USInfo.state.gov article--URL above). Emphasis below is mine:
"Other proposed U.S. assistance includes a $42 million package to help train and equip Lebanon's armed forces, and an upcoming presidential delegation of private-sector leaders that will visit the country to identify ways in which American businesses and nonprofit organizations can help."
Training and equipping hezbanon's armed forces? Are we serious? I guess Condi, the President, or someone stayed up nights thinking this one up. But.......my question is....Why? Why do anything at all? We didn't have to do anything more than send our Marines to evacuate the hordes in harms way and support our friend, Israel, at the UN and around the world. It wasn't our war--for once. And Israel was doing so well! Of course it had to be stopped! We can't have someone winning outright against hezbollah, now can we?
Now that it's over, or on hiatus, even looking as if we are propping up a "pretend" government which, by the way, is in LOVE with and, demonstatedly powerless against, Iran is way beyond wrong.
That we are propping up and funding the military of an extension government of Iran, a country that has demonstrated itself to be one of our, and Israel's, most imminent nuclear adversaries is also beyond stupid.
That we are propping up and funding rebuilding of hezbanon with the hopes that our sharing our capitalist resources and personnel will motivate hezbanon to the point of gratitude and loyalty to the US, is foolish at best and unrealistic by any measure.
I'd like to look at the glass as half-full, a real opportunity for democracy to take root, but denial of the reality in a situation is not the first step toward any relationship.
Who's the fool for funding its enemies around the world?
***
Cartoon credit: Coxandforkum.com permalink here.
***
google search for usinfo.state.gov link above
posted by Hairpinandarrow_blog at
1:39 AM
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