AIPAC Head Testifies On Israel Aid

[Purveyor]

Source: JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The head of a pro-Israel lobby group testified on Capitol Hill about the importance of U.S. aid to Israel.

Howard Kohr, executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the House Appropriations Foreign Operations subcommittee that "American assistance to Israel serves vital U.S. national security interests and advances critical U.S. foriegn policy goals."

He requested that Israel receive $2.775 billion in military aid in fiscal year 2010, as called for in the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Israel that allocates $30 billion in aid for the Jewish state over 10 years.

Kohr noted that the military hardware Israel must purchase to face the increased threat of terrorism and Islamic radicalism is increasingly expensive, and that "windfall oil profits" have fuled the growth rate of military spending in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran in recent years.



Read more: http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/27/1004048/aipac-head-testifies-on-israel-aid

[annabanana]

1. Exactly which "critical U.S. foriegn policy goals" was he talking about.?

I really want to know.

[provis99]

2. Israel is the national equivalent of a corporate welfare bum.

[Prattvictory]

3. They need the money

$2.775 billion?They spent that much on White Phosphorus alone

[winyanstaz]

4. No more money until Israel returns to its own borders

and restores the farms and homes and businesses they destroyed.
We need the money here too much anyways..to restore the farms and homes and businesses that the Neocons destroyed.

[xchrom]

5. seriously -- politics aside -- israel does not need U.S. aid. nt

[floridablue]

6. Israel is our first line of defense

We need her to be strong both militarily and economically. Left to depend on trade with other countries, they would bankrupt her. As long as she is strong in the area, the arab states are afraid of her and we can have a peaceful region as long as we stop invading countries ourselves.

[Arctic Dave]

7. Our first line of defense? It must be happy hour were you are.

The US can handle itself very well when it comes to blowing shit up without having Israel hanging around our neck.

[Idealism]

9. The Cold War is over, move on.

[Chulanowa]

12. First line of defense?

What, is there some sort of slingshot gap between us and the Palestinians?

[leftchick]

15. the goal is not mentioned

genocide of Arabs to claim the rest of their land is the aim. There, I said it.

[fascisthunter]

16. "economically"? How so... Israel has become a parasite on the American Tax Payers

where's the postive trade-off for funneling money to Israel???? What good things are they doing in that part of the World that is so damn advantageous to me as an American? Is an apartheid good for American relations to the Muslim world? Nope.... is the Israeli right wing government spreading freedom and democracy...lol. Nope!

[mitchum]

20. Hey, I don't use that sarcasm smilie either

[geek tragedy]

24. You forgot the sarcasm tag. n/t

[No Elephants]

33. Sadly, Floridablue was probably not being sarcastic. Oh wait, you're being sarcastic!

[floridablue]

38. Why sadly ? No, there was no sarcasm intended.

[IndianaGreen]

27. Israel is certainly not America's friend. Israel only cares about the settlements

and keeping to itself all the land taken in 1967 in perpetuity.

Who is the "we" in the "our" first line of defense?

[No Elephants]

32. Our first line of DEFENSEagainst which nation likely to attack us? Our aid of Israel, no matter what

Israel has done, is doing or intends to do, is one of the main reasons Arabs hate us. So, one could say our unconditional, indiscriminate aid to Israel has been our first line of provocation since the 1940's, not our first line of defense today.

Please, step away from the Kool Aid. It only corrodes your innards and decays your teeth.

[classysassy]

8. Needy

vs the greedy.We need to inform our congress,that we are in dire straits,and so are many more nations,where their children go to bed every night hungry.Where are the ministers and social workers,wise up people we are being had?.

[IndianaGreen]

10. Howard Kohr should be required to register as an agent of a foreign government

as those that lobby on behalf of other countries are required to do.

[cali]

11. except that AIPAC isn't a lobby for a foreign country

I don't like it, but it's a lobby of American citizens. And they aren't controlled by Israelis. Sorry, that line will never wash. And it shouldn't. There are other ways of dealing with AIPAC.

[JFKfanforever]

13. Like what?

What 'other ways' would you suggest?

[cali]

14. Like J Street for example. Like exposing their tactics.

[JFKfanforever]

21. Once their tactics are fully exposed, then what?

[IndianaGreen]

17. They are still acting as agents for a foreign country

There are many Americans that work on behalf of the interests of other countries, and they are required to register as foreign agents. Why should AIPAC be treated any differently from anyone else?

[cali]

18. no, they're not. and no matter how many times you repeat that foolish

meme, it doesn't magically become true. As for your claim that analogous groups are treated differently, please provide the evidence. And that means names of groups and individuals.

[geek tragedy]

23. How is AIPAC anything other than a lobbying group for

Israel?

Does anyone seriously believe that they sit down and think "well, what would the benefit be to the United States?'

[IndianaGreen]

28. Charles Black, former McCain advisor, was a registered foreign agent for Angola's Savimbi

McCain Adviser's Work As Lobbyist Criticized

Foreign Clients Included Notorious Rulers

By Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 22, 2008; Page A01

Longtime uber-lobbyist Charles R. Black Jr. is John McCain's man in Washington, a political maestro who is hoping to guide his friend, the senator from Arizona, to the presidency this November.

But for half a decade in the 1980s, Black was also Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House.

Justice Department records that Black's firm submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act detail frequent meetings with lawmakers and their staffs and lavish spending by Black and his partners as they attempted to ensure support for Savimbi, whose UNITA movement was fighting the Marxist Angolan government.

Then in his 30s, Black already had established himself as a pioneer of the revolving door between campaign consulting and lobbying, having been a senior adviser on President Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign before returning to K Street. And his clients, as often as not, were foreign leaders eager to burnish their reputations.

In addition to Savimbi, Black and his partners were at times registered foreign agents for a remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as their opposition to communism was embraced by American conservatives. They included Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, and the countries of Kenya and Equatorial Guinea, among others.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006.html

Lawmakers Seek to Close Foreign Lobbyist Loopholes

By BARRY MEIER
Published: June 12, 2008

Loopholes that lobbyists for foreign clients sometimes use to keep their activities under wraps would be closed under legislation that two Democratic senators are expected to offer on Thursday.

Lobbying by foreign agents — and the lack of disclosures about their activities — is an issue that has dogged the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, who in recent weeks has seen aides resign because of their ties to foreign governments and private interests.

The legislation, by Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, would require lobbyists who work for foreign-owned companies to disclose more about those relationships than they currently do.

It also would require those who meet with American officials outside the country on behalf of foreign politicians to register as lobbyists, a step that existing law does not require.

“The idea you could lobby an American citizen and that it would not be disclosed is really very troubling,” Mr. Schumer said in a telephone interview.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/washington/12agent.html

Of course, I expect that scumbag Schumer to exempt from this law the fifth columnists among the Israel Lobby.

[No Elephants]

36. Repetition does not render your opinions true, either, though. Neither do insults.

[geek tragedy]

22. If AIPAC'ers had to choose between the US and Israel,

what percent would choose the US?

[IndianaGreen]

26. They already chose Israel by giving aid and comfort to an espionage ring

and for supporting the ongoing building and expansion of settlements in Judea and Samaria, settlements opposed by the United States.

[No Elephants]

34. The citizenship of the lobbyist is not the legal test. For whose interests

does AIPAC consistently lobby? Those of Israel.



A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a member of a lobby.<3>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying

But, I don't know whether Indiana Green intended Post # 10 literally, anyway.

[mitchum]

19. IBTIMTTC (In Before This Is Moved To The Cornfield)

[totodeinhere]

25. If we stop giving aid to Israel, then we will have no more leverage with them.

As long as we are aiding them we can insist that they continue with the Middle East peace process. But if we cut off aid, the incoming right wing government will have nothing to lose and it could get really scary.

[IndianaGreen]

29. Israel broke US law by using American-made white phosphorus shells on civilian areas

Had another country done the same thing, it would have lost American military aid. Why is Israel treated differently? Because Israel has bought influence in Congress, that's why!

[totodeinhere]

30. You are correct, but that's not my point. I am just saying that we need to try to keep some sort...

of leverage with the Israeli government, or who knows what might happen.

And if Israeli were to precipitate massive violence in the region, we might be helpless to stop them even if we had the political will to try, and because of the points that you outlined we probably wouldn't even try.

[No Elephants]

37. Indiana is arguing corruption. You are arguing need. Israel ignores us now. We can get that

for free. Besides, in my observation, we never do well when we betray our core values, be that for Israel or for the Shah of Iran. Sooner or later, it comes back to bite us. In the case of Israel, it already has, a number of times. The only question is when it will bite us again and how badly.

Since Israel does what Israel wants anyway, I say we stay true to our core values.

[No Elephants]

35. We have leverage with Israel now? and it's scary now, anyway.

[No Elephants]

31. Did Congress approve that 2007 memo that let Dummya commit the US for nine years after his term

ended