# Please explain the Middle East crisis

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-middle-east-crisis/365487>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 21, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-middle-east-crisis/365487 "2006-07-21T15:17:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 9

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-middle-east-crisis/365487/161 "2006-08-06T20:40:09Z")

</div>

> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> An interesting source, Sevastopol. Unfortunately I could not find on the “About Us” page a single name of any person involved in running the site or gathering the information. The site is supposedly run by Palestinian non-governmental organizations, but none of the organizations are identified either. Can you clarify who these people are?

> [@Sevastopol](#):
>
> My, aren’t you full of questions, which by the way I am always happy to answer.

In that case, could you do so? Saying that you found about about the site from someone slse does not answer my question, nor does it justify your launching into complaints about the supposed evasions of other posters.

> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> If we knew (about who was behind the website), we might understand why they did not provide data … showing that U.S. military assistance and sales to Arab nations considerably exceeds that given to Israel.

> [@Sevastopol](#):
>
> Probably because it does not?

Nope.

In case you’ve forgotten already, [here’s a source](http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32689.pdf) I provided earlier in this thread, showing arms sales agreements between the U.S. and nations in the Middle East. For one recent period, (2000-2003), these agreements accounted for a total of 17.7 billion dollars in military sales to just four Arab nations in the Middle East (U.A.E, Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia). Israel’s total for military sales for the same period was 5.1 billion dollars.  
For further perspective, total annual U.S. military aid to Israel (including the largest source of such aid, the Foreign Military Financing program) is stated by various sources to have averaged about 1.8-2.2 billion dollars a year in recent years (another major recipient of aid under FMF is Egypt).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-middle-east-crisis/365487/162 "2006-08-07T03:36:24Z")

</div>

[http://www.counterpunch.org/tilley08052006.html](http://www.counterpunch.org/tilley08052006.html) Another opinion.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-middle-east-crisis/365487.md?page=8)