Following a decision by the U.S. House of Representatives Defense Appropriations Subcommittee which just approved over $948 million in funding for Israel’s anti-missile defense programs, Israel will receive a record $4 billion in military aid in 2013.
The Jewish Press reports: Approximately $679 million of the funding will go to the Iron Dome, thanks in large part to legislation initiated last month by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairwoman and ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, respectively.
The remaining $269 million will go to Israel’s other anti-missile initiatives: the short-range David’s Sling ($149.7 million), and the current long-range Arrow anti-ballistic missile system and its successor the Arrow 3 ($119.3 million). These projects, unlike the Iron Dome, are joint Israel-US projects.
While the increase in funding for the Iron Dome was expected, with the Department of Defense stating in March that it “intends to request an appropriate level of funding from Congress to support such acquisitions based on Israeli requirements and production capacity,” the funding for the other projects represents an increase of $169 million over the Obama administration’s proposed number.
Careful what you wish for. If Congress wants to add more $$$$ to the deficit, then by all means, send them over to fight the war. Put them in uniform and let them stand side by side with the IDF. In fact, put the whole of AIPAC, all right wing sycophants and even so called liberals too, in the same mboat, ship them over, see how much they like war mongering then. At least that way, the U.S. would be rid of a bunch of trouble makers. Oh, Romney & “O” can go too.
Washington Rules. (Don’t forget to vote!…… you bet!)
With any luck, this will be the war that breaks the back of the empire — and plunges the world back into Great Recession (if indeed we ever got out of the first one).