A deal for increasing American arms aid to Israel —and other lessons in short-sighted hypocrisy

14 September 2016

We are, it seems, determined to doom our friends and ourselves

As a once historian, I sometimes detect History's seeds being planted.

One of these is the news that the Obama Administration reached a $38 billion arms deal with Israel — $3.8 billion per year for 10 years. This is reportedly up from the $3.1 billion a year funding that exists now:

[Israel agrees] not to seek additional funds from Congress beyond what will be guaranteed annually in the new package, and to phase out a special arrangement that has allowed Israel to spend part of its U.S. aid on its own defense industry instead of on American-made weapons . . . .

Contemplate the implications of this agreement

American taxpayers and Peace both get screwed again.

An intergalactic alien (meaning someone unfamiliar with the United States' uncritical psychic ties to Israel) might wonder:

(1) Why do we allow rich Israel to drain American taxpayers' pockets?

(2) Why do we subsidize America's arms industry by (i) taxing Americans (ii) to give Israel money (iii) to give back to Fat Cat American Capitalists?

(3) At a time when the Arab world is tearing itself apart with generously supplied American assistance, why does Israel even require increased arms aid?

Generally speaking, as one's already feeble adversaries grow militarily weaker, one does not need to engage them in arms races.

(4) Strategically speaking, why would the Obama Administration conclude a nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran and then immediately provide Iran with increased motive to undermine the nuke agreement's terms?

Iran will not look kindly upon the escalated US-Israel armaments deal. Israel already poses more of an existential threat to Iran than Iran does to Israel.

(5) More broadly, how do we think this agreement is going to play with nations already contemplating their own defense?

Mightn't they conclude that they need to acquire reliable means to defend themselves against a constantly meddling United States?

Nukes, anyone?

(6) Last and peripherally — why would anyone think that getting Israel to agree to stop lobbying Congress would bind our own (US-based) Zionist Lobby to the same terms?

The Obama Administration often appears to more naive than it is perspicacious.

Peace is obviously not the American intent

Here is how this arms agreement is, more likely than not, going to play out in the longer term:

We feed Israel more weapons. Israel continues its Palestine-killing ways. Palestinians and Iran become more irritated.

Iran begins cheating on the anti-nuke deal.

Israel overreacts — as it frequently does out of an understandable perception of being perennially on the ropes.

The US then "helpfully" blames the allegedly Always Perfidious Persians for upsetting the Middle Eastern apple cart.

More arms get built and shipped.

Angrier language flows back and forth. Existential "this and thats" are raised.

Everybody's blood boils. Brain cooks in this soup — until dead.

Israel eventually attacks Iran's allegedly increased nuclear (or conventional warfare) capacity, claiming that a preemptive strike is its only hope for survival — evidently forgetting that the Cold War ended with the world's two superpowers never having traded a nuclear blow.

And on we go from there.

Until hundreds of thousands of more people are probably dead or mutilated.

Who wins?

War profiteers.

War profiteers run American foreign policy. We Americans are pretty good at inventing reasons why someone needs to get blasted. Not having had that experience ourselves, on our own soil, we think of European restraint as a symptom of cowardice or excessive civilization.

We are also superbly talented at ignoring the obvious future consequences of what we do. This seems to be implied in the term, American. A land where History and Culture are neither effectively taught nor meaningfully remembered.

The moral? — Follow the money

What our leaders say we intend, almost never corresponds to the gist of what we do.

This arms deal is not really about keeping Israel safe. It is about solidifying our "familial" connection with that nation and, advertently or not, profitably stirring the War Pot.

Though the Obama arms deal will probably be criticized by even more fanatically pro-Israel American elements, it reliably continues the poorly thought out "add fuel to the fire" strategic thrust of previous agreements.

In the moderate to long term, given Middle Eastern demographics and future hegemonic maneuvering, Israel will almost certainly become even more geopolitically extreme in its behavior. Self-immolation by Unfortunate Demographic Circumstance may follow.

If so, Israel's future ashes are going to cling to the United States in predictably unpleasant geopolitical ways.

Like many sadly angry Israelis and Palestinians, I see no achievable way out of this mess. Human nature does us in. We fight and kill the mirror's reflection. Perhaps the Fatalists were correct.

Parables parade by. Unseen. Unheeded.

It is difficult to change Destiny when one is not (and never has been) paying attention.

PeteFree.com

A deal for increasing American arms aid to Israel —and other lessons in short-sighted hypocrisy