$3,000,000,000.00 divided by 5,749,760 (the CIA World Factbook July, 1999 figure for Israel’s population) translates into $521.00 for every individual in Israel. Coincidentally, I find that a tax break for myself in this amount would be just about right. Of course, $3B spread over the U.S. population wouldn’t give me five hundred bucks; on the other hand, someone in Israel is paying $521 less of a tax burden than they would have to otherwise, because of American dollars.
Since our strategic interests in the Middle East seem to me to be more centered on maintaining good relations with the oil-producing nations, most of whom have feelings towards Israel of ambivalence at best and outright hostility at worst, I find the giving of this aid questionable. What exactly do we get in return? Vague statements about what staunch allies they are seem disingenuous; Israel is not really in a position to help us with anything outside of aiding our supposed interest in defending Israel - an interest we have because they are staunch allies. A bit of a tautology.
BTW, sixty five billion dollars is $11,304.82 for every individual Israeli.
So, what you’re telling me, is that if there were more arab-americans than jewish-americans (or the ones that are here were more vocal), we’d stop supporting Israel? Our ‘necessary interest’ seems self-fulfilling; we support Israel in order to have an Israel to support. If that particular piece of real estate came under arab control, what would the logistical impact to the US be? They don’t send us oil, and the revenue we garner from them seems to be mostly repaying of debts anyway, which we send them money to pay in the first place.
We supported Vietnam and Korea for one reason only-to ‘fight communism’. That was the reasoning at the time, right or wrong. Arguably, the same thing with Afghanistan. Supporting Israel has nothing to do with repressing communism, it’s fighting against aggression, and there’s plenty of that all over the globe that we ignore (East Timor? Pakistan/India? Rwanda?).
Personally, the fact that the winners of WW2 decided the world’s jews could make a country where there were already people living, without the consent of those people, was a bad plan, IMHO. To put them in direct line of conflict with people whose belief system contrasted so violently with them made it even worse. How much bloodshed and cash could have been saved if we would have went with the backup plan and created Israel in Madagascar?
Hehe-it’s a little late for that. You might want to ask Chang-Kai-Shek or South Vietnam or the Bay of Pigs supporters, about what happens when US support is no longer convenient. The US track record of screwing over allies isn’t that good, and I doubt that world nations have missed that point. Matter of fact, the opposite is true-the people we are tightest with in the 21st century are people we bombed the crap out of 50 years ago. So, I must humbly disagree with your statement.
They say the Lord loves drunks, fools and little children.
Two out of three ain’t bad.
Apb and Spankboy, you raise very good points. Very simply, we need to look at foreign aid, for ANY foreign nation, and scale it back. We’ve become a golden goose fore EVERYONE and I think we need to refocus our attention nationally and realize the world has changed and the need to BUY FRIENDS has passed.
Every time a bad situation happens in another country does not mean we have to fix it, fund it, or interfere in it.
Longhrn, 3 Billion would buy a lot of playgrounds, lunches and homes for homeless. heck, put it back into the SS system.
Things are not what they seem to be; nor are they otherwise.
[lankavatara Sutra]
Playgrounds, lunches and homes, huh? Sure sounds like a matter for the STATES (not the Feds), to me. And please, PLAYGROUNDS?? If you’re going to pull something out of your ass, please try to think it through. Lunches and homes are essential to life, but a playground just doesn’t cut it. Oh yeah, about Social Securty: I’m fairly certain that money just can’t be thrown around like that (FICA rules and all), although I could be wrong. If so, I stand corrected.
“I hear the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.”
-T.S. Eliot
What’s the difference how we spend OUR money? What I’m trying to illustrate is that 3B could buy a lot of things for people right here at home. We have to try to stop trying to fix the world.
Another nations’s infrastructure problems are THEIR concern, not ours. Just look around where you live. Wouldn’t 3B help repair roads, feed the poor, house the homeless, or lower your taxes?
Things are not what they seem to be; nor are they otherwise.
[lankavatara Sutra]
I bet if you looked at the government finance records hard enough you could find $3B ‘missing’ from what goes in, if not more. For a pointer, try looking around the ‘National Security’ and ‘Agency’ areas. Once you get THAT sorted, then you can think about abandoning other parts of the world to socio-political oblivion.
“You can have the afternoon off when you die” - Edmund Blackadder