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(Google) Interesting Israel gets weekly U.S. allowance raised to $53,125,000, promises not to blow it all on ice cream and F-15's   (afp.google.com) divider line 222
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1303 clicks; posted to Politics » on 28 Jun 2008 at 12:07 AM   |  Make this a Fark FavoriteFavorite    |   share: Share on OMGTWITTER WEB2.0share on StumbleUponshare on Facebook  more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!

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HowlingFrog [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 08:45:00 PM  
eqtworld: you would think they would do it a bit cheaper.

The Pali kids keep dinging up their Merkavas with rocks, and those big D9 housemunchers need replacement parts once in awhile.

 
Mordant [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 08:54:39 PM  
meh, we'll just skim it off our surplus.

 
OlafTheBent [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 08:58:52 PM  
So what's that... about $7.25 a head (2008 Census at 7,282,000)?

Every week.

 
EsteeFlwrPot 2008-06-27 09:09:14 PM  
They're gonna use it to buy weapons and shiat from us so we'll get it right back.

 
HowlingFrog [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:15:26 PM  
EsteeFlwrPot: They're gonna use it to buy weapons and shiat from us expand their illegal "settlements" so we'll get it right back the blowback.

There, fixed.

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:18:59 PM  
And we give at least $94,230,769/week to sub-Saharan Africa!!!111!!! OH NOES!

http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:22:00 PM  
crypticsatellite: And we give at least $94,230,769/week to sub-Saharan Africa!!!111!!! OH NOES!

I missed one! Make that $100,301,923 per week.

 
HowlingFrog [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:25:52 PM  
crypticsatellite: And we give at least $94,230,769/week to sub-Saharan Africa!!!111!!! OH NOES!

That's 47 countries. You do the math.

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:30:34 PM  
HowlingFrog: crypticsatellite: And we give at least $94,230,769/week to sub-Saharan Africa!!!111!!! OH NOES!

That's 47 countries. You do the math.

Agreed, but the dollars do far more in sub-Saharan Africa.

I couldn't find US aid to individual European countries for a more equitable comparison.

 
HowlingFrog [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:36:54 PM  
crypticsatellite: Agreed, but the dollars do far more in sub-Saharan Africa.

Absolutely. The dollars are much needed there, and I don't mind paying them.
But, as eqtworld pointed out, how can you compare starving, third-world countries (in many cases) with a nuclear power that can afford one of the finest and best-equipped military presence in the world?

 
Fat and Nasty 86 2008-06-27 09:39:04 PM  
When Jesus come back to Jerusalem, he's gonna want those nukes. Trust me.

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:43:42 PM  
HowlingFrog: crypticsatellite: Agreed, but the dollars do far more in sub-Saharan Africa.

Absolutely. The dollars are much needed there, and I don't mind paying them.
But, as eqtworld pointed out, how can you compare starving, third-world countries (in many cases) with a nuclear power that can afford one of the finest and best-equipped military presence in the world?

I'm trying to find recent numbers for US financial aid to various European countries, but my Google-Fu is weak tonight; I keep getting WWII references.

It's easy to throw out a number divided by a number that hits really his home (yearly contributions divided by 52), but it makes more sense to put it into context rather than to go for the sensationalism.

Note that I'm not saying the amount is excessive or not, but I would like to see it in context. For example US aid to Iraq is more than that. ;)

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 09:44:59 PM  
Ah, crap. I thought I was previewing. Please ignore typos.

 
wtf_over 2008-06-27 09:54:33 PM  
crypticsatellite: I'm trying to find recent numbers for US financial aid to various European countries, but my Google-Fu is weak tonight; I keep getting WWII references.

It's easy to throw out a number divided by a number that hits really his home (yearly contributions divided by 52), but it makes more sense to put it into context rather than to go for the sensationalism.

Note that I'm not saying the amount is excessive or not, but I would like to see it in context. For example US aid to Iraq is more than that. ;)

I'm confused. What are you trying to say? When you first threw out that number, it seemed like you were trying to say "nothing to see here, move along citizen--we give much more money to other people." Then you throw out that you're trying to find the amount we give to European countries and the whole Iraq mess which just reinforces the "nothing to see here" outlook.

From my perspective, it is pretty damned silly that we give that much money to a country that causes us a bunch of grief (see other posts), and give so little money to 47 countries where people are starving to death and don't have clean water.

I don't mind my tax dollars going to people who need help with the basics of life--food and clean water. I have a huge problem with my tax dollars going to people who have food, clean water, a high standard of living and use that money to buy weapons and violate international law.

My 2 cents.

 
Tr0mBoNe [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 10:04:43 PM  
How many billion does Iraq get per week? I bet he can afford to go to the movies AND get the expensive combo WITH nachos!

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 10:13:51 PM  
wtf_over: I'm confused. What are you trying to say? When you first threw out that number, it seemed like you were trying to say "nothing to see here, move along citizen--we give much more money to other people." Then you throw out that you're trying to find the amount we give to European countries and the whole Iraq mess which just reinforces the "nothing to see here" outlook.

I wanted to see this number in context. The only readily available numbers for foreign aid that I was able to find quickly was that for sub-saharan Africa, which is more than what we give to Israel. Granted it is to many countries at a different levels of development. Hence my desire to know how much we give yearly to other countries. The headline was making a point by dividing the yearly number of money given to Israel by 52, so I was curious as to where this number stands in regard to other foreign financial aid the US gives out.

The Iraq comment was a sort of joke as it is said we spend several million per hour there, so that would be the upper end of the spectrum of foreign "aid."

 
wtf_over 2008-06-27 10:33:33 PM  
crypticsatellite: I wanted to see this number in context. The only readily available numbers for foreign aid that I was able to find quickly was that for sub-saharan Africa, which is more than what we give to Israel. Granted it is to many countries at a different levels of development. Hence my desire to know how much we give yearly to other countries. The headline was making a point by dividing the yearly number of money given to Israel by 52, so I was curious as to where this number stands in regard to other foreign financial aid the US gives out.

I see. What confused me was that you were comparing what we give to 47 countries with what we gave one country. I think a better comparison would have been to compare one of those countries in sub-saharan Africa with Israel. That would have given me a heck of a lot more context.

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 10:38:11 PM  
wtf_over: I see. What confused me was that you were comparing what we give to 47 countries with what we gave one country. I think a better comparison would have been to compare one of those countries in sub-saharan Africa with Israel. That would have given me a heck of a lot more context.

Well, I'd prefer to see the aid we give to a similarly developed country, like one in Europe because the dollar will go much, much farther in Africa than in Europe (and I'm not talking about the exchange rate). So, if we translate the dollars into food/medical/defense/etc., it would get far more in Africa than in Israel (or Europe).

 
wtf_over 2008-06-27 10:58:21 PM  
crypticsatellite: Well, I'd prefer to see the aid we give to a similarly developed country, like one in Europe because the dollar will go much, much farther in Africa than in Europe (and I'm not talking about the exchange rate). So, if we translate the dollars into food/medical/defense/etc., it would get far more in Africa than in Israel (or Europe).

Here is the budget of the United States (new window). I don't really have time to go through it because it is not "click here to find out how much this country gets," but if you are willing to go through it, have at it.

As a side note: much of our aid to countries for military spending gets lumped in with the Department of Defense, not to anything labeled as foreign aid.

 
nstutsman [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 11:33:27 PM  
eqtworld: crypticsatellite: And we give at least $94,230,769/week to sub-Saharan Africa!!!111!!! OH NOES!

http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/

You are comparing half a continent, which is full of countries that cannot even feed their citizens, who feel the need to continue to fark like bunnies, even though there is not enough water or food to begin with, to a tiny sliver of a country that has plenty of food and uses our aid to buy advanced weaponry?

you left something out

 
KaponoFor3 [recently expired TotalFark] 2008-06-27 11:50:58 PM  
eqtworld: knowing how much Jews love to drive Arabs off their land and keep them off the land God promised to the Jewish people..you would think they would do it a bit cheaper.

I'm sure you are just anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic though, right?

 
whatshisname 2008-06-27 11:54:25 PM  
Tr0mBoNe: How many billion does Iraq get per week? I bet he can afford to go to the movies AND get the expensive combo WITH nachos!

Not really, but his girlfriend, Haliburton, has a mink coat.

 
Snarfangel [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 11:54:29 PM  
EsteeFlwrPot: They're gonna use it to buy weapons and shiat from us so we'll get it right back.

If I owned a restaurant, I could pay people to eat there, but I doubt I'd make money.

/but I'd make up for it in volume.

 
Party Boy [TotalFark] 2008-06-27 11:57:39 PM  

Continuation of

(Dec 2007) Israel wants the U.S. to give it the first F-35s off the line, Oh, and it also doesn't want to follow the rules required for purchase (thread)

(10:56:46 AM)
Here's the "Matryoshka doll" of this story


In 2005, the U.S. suspended cooperation with Israel on the fighter Jet, due to Israel's arms deals with China. Our problems with Israel selling China arms goes back a long way [1] [2] [3],

We agreed to sell (at the later date mentioned in the TFA) the F-35 to Israel as part of the new defensive package to Israel, where the US is giving Israel $30 billion[4]

This package was designed to "maintain Israel's military edge" in a $20 billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Yes, we gave Israel $30 Billion so the Saudis could buy $20 Billion of arms. Were smart.
Now, this deal with the Saudis is now suspended, being reviewed [5] [6], and now we have the developments mentioned in TFA. While the Saudi deal is postponed, this one is goingthrough, and might even be accelerated. So, what was all the hubub about?

The weapons that Israel were mad that the Saudis were getting were weapons the "U.S. has been selling Israel such weapons since the 1990s."
And despite these multi billion dollar deals, the US is still purchasing, not getting arms from Israel.

 
The Tony Danzas 2008-06-28 12:14:02 AM  
nstutsman: You are comparing half a continent, which is full of countries that cannot even feed their citizens, who feel the need to continue to fark like bunnies, even though there is not enough water or food to begin with, to a tiny sliver of a country that has plenty of food and uses our aid to buy advanced weaponry?

you left something out

Dude, it's sub-saharan Africa. There's only three things to do:
1) Fark like bunnies
2) Get killed in a war
3) Starve to death
Only one of the options is fun. I'll give you a hint - it's not 2 or 3.

 
Falcc 2008-06-28 12:15:44 AM  
Well, we tried jewing it down, but...

 
limeyfellow 2008-06-28 12:16:18 AM  
I think they would need it for bombs. The way they ran out so quickly in the Lebanonese offensive last year and couldn't get arms quick enough really was such an embarrassment they aren't going to be so embarrassed next time.

 
CastorPimp 2008-06-28 12:18:26 AM  
farking Israel. and the US for catering to them.

 
Occam's Chainsaw [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:22:51 AM  
Party Boy: *Wall o' cited info*

This is why I like having you around. You periodically show up and go all PWN on relevant topics. Beats the shiat out of Fark's usual diet of bald assertions.

On topic: Israel was one of the only real democracies in the region, and surrounded in depth by enemies sworn to their utter annihilation. Was. Now it's one of the top ten military powers on the planet, disgustingly rich, and surrounded by a pack of squabbling children (and Iran) too busy whacking each other. Plus it's pushing its own agenda, which while not opposed to ours, sure as hell ain't parallel. Israel needs to stay our close friend and ally, but there's a big difference between "close friend" and "Free Rimjob Thursdays".

 
Postal Penguin 2008-06-28 12:22:56 AM  
I strongly support Israel and its existence but why are they still dependent on us? Can't they I don't know sell something to pay for their weapons themselves? We can support them without paying them 53 million a week.

 
Occam's Chainsaw [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:25:09 AM  
limeyfellow: I think they would need it for bombs. The way they ran out so quickly in the Lebanonese offensive last year and couldn't get arms quick enough really was such an embarrassment they aren't going to be so embarrassed next time.

Next time one would hope that they would learn from both their recent mistake and our repeated mistakes and realize that a military action centered around air superiority and tactical bombing is utterly worthless against an irregular force of guerilla fighters.

 
ruthwasaprick 2008-06-28 12:25:41 AM  
I strongly support Israel and its existence but why are they still dependent on us? Can't they I don't know sell something to pay for their weapons themselves? We can support them without paying them 53 million a week.

the babble demands it

 
apeiron242 2008-06-28 12:27:34 AM  
Am i late for the "Israel is bad because Bush supports it" thread?

Remember kids: Once Obama takes the oath, we switch our stances on Israel and Terrorism!

 
Party Boy [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:28:19 AM  
Occam's Chainsaw: This is why I like having you around.

Thanks. I'm going to bed.

Meanwhile, I am seriously concerned about the Decayed infrastructure in my country. There's a series of levee pics another farker posted. lemme dig it up - then zzzzz

 
knobmaker 2008-06-28 12:30:38 AM  
Israel is turning me into an anti-semitic.

Palestinians killed by Israelis in 2007: 373

Israelis killed by Palestinians in 2007: 13

Reuters piece here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL30213970

 
McCaintheUniter 2008-06-28 12:30:41 AM  
Anyone that complains about giving money to Israel knows nothing about what is stake in the Middle East and should really be quiet.

 
Occam's Chainsaw [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:31:33 AM  
Party Boy: Meanwhile, I am seriously concerned about the Decayed infrastructure in my country. There's a series of levee pics another farker posted. lemme dig it up - then zzzzz

Yeah, best part: if you look at which levees broke and in what order, the failures almost read like a backwards timeline. Those built in the 20s and 30s stand, and the closer you get to the present day, the earlier they fail.

And the boomers wonder why we despise them. They really did piss away everything that the "greatest generation" handed them.

 
Party Boy [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:33:39 AM  
Occam's Chainsaw: And the boomers wonder why we despise them. They really did piss away everything that the "greatest generation" handed them.

were a little butthurt over some of this shiat. We're going to have to pull together and rebuild our infrastructure.

 
SpacePunk 2008-06-28 12:35:27 AM  
A week!? And those farkers in Washington raise our taxes? Argue about universal health care? How about cutting back on foreign aid? How about telling all those mother farkers in Israel, Africa, etc... to just go piss up a tree? How about that money either being spent IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to fix shiat here, or put toward the massive debt to get rid of it?

fark

 
McCaintheUniter 2008-06-28 12:35:48 AM  
Occam's Chainsaw: And the boomers wonder why we despise them. They really did piss away everything that the "greatest generation" handed them.

You young kids are a bunch of spoil brats that expect everything handed to you on a platter. We had to work to make it. You won't ever make it because you refuse to work.

 
McCaintheUniter 2008-06-28 12:37:12 AM  
SpacePunk: A week!? And those farkers in Washington raise our taxes? Argue about universal health care? How about cutting back on foreign aid? How about telling all those mother farkers in Israel, Africa, etc... to just go piss up a tree? How about that money either being spent IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to fix shiat here, or put toward the massive debt to get rid of it?

Thank your local democrat for this kind of world think and trying to win the globalist popularity contest

 
Falcc 2008-06-28 12:38:15 AM  
What if Israel and all the Muslim nations switched countries, would that help?

"We've got out holy land back! Thank Allah, let's go relax and pray while we wait out the rest of our days in peace."

"We've got a whole bunch of oil! Thank YHWH, let's go slowly starve off our enemies."

Everybody wins.

Also, McCaintheUnhinged, are you traveling or just similarly idiotic? Israel is one of the only countries in the middle east with nuclear weapons of any kind, they need us for exactly shiat. I'm sure Zombie Jesus can come back just fine in an irradiated wasteland so don't get your panties in a wad.

 
sarcastrophe 2008-06-28 12:39:06 AM  
knobmaker: Israel is turning me into an anti-semitic.

Palestinians killed by Israelis in 2007: 373

Israelis killed by Palestinians in 2007: 13

Reuters piece here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL30213970

You'd think that the palestinians would look at those numbers and stop lobbing rockets into Israel. Either way, Israel needs to get off our tit.

/voting?

 
McCaintheUniter 2008-06-28 12:39:40 AM  
Falcc: Also, McCaintheUnhinged, are you traveling or just similarly idiotic? Israel is one of the only countries in the middle east with nuclear weapons of any kind, they need us for exactly shiat. I'm sure Zombie Jesus can come back just fine in an irradiated wasteland so don't get your panties in a wad.

Yep I am the unstable one that has comed unhinged Captain Hatealot

 
Party Boy [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:39:47 AM  

 
Party Boy [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:41:25 AM  
Some people have forgotten Florida and the Bullet train we voted for, then was 'derailed' Luntz style.

Bush kicks off drive to stop bullet train plans
--
TALLAHASSEE - Four years after Florida voters approved a bullet train, Gov. Jeb Bush wants them to derail it.
..snip..


/sleep time

 
Falcc 2008-06-28 12:45:15 AM  
McCaintheUniter: Yep I am the unstable one that has comed unhinged Captain Hatealot

Hey if you've got a real valid reason to give Israel a penny when we're in debt and they're crazy rich that isn't some variation of "we want to be on their side becuase revelations forgot to mention how America is going to survive with Israel" I'd be happy to hear it. But I don't think someone in the Support America Last crowd such as yourself is going to have anything real to contribute.

 
crypticsatellite [TotalFark] 2008-06-28 12:46:40 AM  
knobmaker: Israel is turning me into an anti-semitic.

Palestinians killed by Israelis in 2007: 373

Israelis killed by Palestinians in 2007: 13


What do those numbers mean? That Israel has good defenses? That Israelis went out and murdered 373 Palestinians and Palestinians murdered 13 Israelis? That Israelis fight better? That Palestinians put more into the fight?

 
EsteeFlwrPot 2008-06-28 12:46:46 AM  
Israel doesn't need to worry about anything. In fact, i'm going to try my best to travel there next year. Hopefully i'll be able to afford a week or so.

/I'm completely serious
//Israel has nothing to worry about, it's just scared of war but theres no reason to be.

 
McCaintheUniter 2008-06-28 12:46:53 AM  
Falcc: Hey if you've got a real valid reason to give Israel a penny when we're in debt and they're crazy rich that isn't some variation of "we want to be on their side becuase revelations forgot to mention how America is going to survive with Israel" I'd be happy to hear it. But I don't think someone in the Support America Last crowd such as yourself is going to have anything real to contribute.

Your right we obviously need to spend that money on education.

 
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