W.J. ASTORE
OpEds
Can't the Israelis Pay for their Own Bullets, Bombs, and Missiles?
Apparently, the top priority in the U.S. Congress is sending more “aid” to Israel, most of it lethal. It’s more important than health care for Americans, aid for the poor and disadvantaged, or even aid to U.S. schools and cities. Basically, it’s more important than anything. Why is this? What elevates sending more bullets, bombs, and missiles to Israel above all other matters in the U.S. government? How does this make any sense? Last time I checked, Israel is a modern country with healthy finances and is capable of buying this “aid” if it really needed to. Why is the U.S. taxpayer footing the bill for more munitions to kill innocent people in Gaza? I don’t want my money going to ethnic cleansing and more death; do you?  What U.S. “aid” to Israel produces: Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza after a bombing that killed HUNDREDS, many children. Most Americans, roughly two-thirds, support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Our voices are simply ignored by “our” government, which of course shows us that “our” government truly isn’t ours. The owners and donors, the oligarchs, have their own priorities, and they are not ours. In a note to accompany an article with Medea Benjamin at Common Dreams, Nicolas Davies notes that:
Not only that, but new House Speaker Mike Johnson has decided to connect $14.3 billion in aid to Israel to an identical reduction in the budget of the IRS! He wants to cripple the ability of the IRS to go after tax cheats in America while giving a huge handout to America’s weapons makers in the cause of “defending” Israel. You know the saying about death and taxes being the most certain things we face in life? Obviously in America selling death trumps collecting taxes. |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR / SOURCEWilliam J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF), has taught at the Air Force Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School. He currently teaches at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He is a regular contributor to TomDispatch and also the author of Hindenburg: Icon of German Militarism (Potomac, 2005).
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1 comment
Col. W.J. Astore was the only one to ever respond to my concern regarding academic standards.
I do have to reread that exchange, and I do know he didn’t seem a fan of my position in that matter – perhaps some day I’ll be lucky enough to even understand his position.