The House of Representatives suspended its parliamentary rules and passed H.R. 4133, the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, or USIESC.
It was drafted by AIPAC and sponsored by Eric Cantor. It includes more money for Israel, more missile subsidies, more training subsidies, more tank subsidies, more munition subsidies, more intelligence given to Israel, and a call to make NATO more Israel-centric. It also reaffirms "the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish state."
It passed 411-2. Only Rep. Ron Paul, and one Democrat, dissented from the herd.
House Passes Stealth Legislation
http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/hr4133
It was drafted by AIPAC and sponsored by Eric Cantor. It includes more money for Israel, more missile subsidies, more training subsidies, more tank subsidies, more munition subsidies, more intelligence given to Israel, and a call to make NATO more Israel-centric. It also reaffirms "the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish state."
It passed 411-2. Only Rep. Ron Paul, and one Democrat, dissented from the herd.
House Passes Stealth Legislation
It is interesting to note what exactly the bill pledges the American people to do on behalf of Israel. It obligates the United States to veto resolutions critical of Israel, to provide such military support “as is necessary,” to pay for the building of an anti-missile system, to provide advanced “defense” equipment (including refueling tankers, which are offensive), to give Israel special munitions (i.e., bunker-busters, which are also offensive), to forward deploy more U.S. military equipment to Israel, to offer the Israeli air force more training and facilities in the U.S., to increase security- and advanced-technology-program cooperation, and to extend loan guarantees and expand intelligence-sharing (including highly sensitive satellite imagery). Actually, there’s even more included, and I may have missed the kitchen sink. But the objective is to provide Israel with the resources to attack Iran, if it chooses to do so, while tying the U.S. and Israel so closely together that whatever Benjamin Netanyahu does, the U.S. “will always be there,” as our president has so aptly put it.
But the scariest bit of the bill is its call for “an expanded role for Israel within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including an enhanced presence at NATO headquarters and exercises.” If Israel becomes part of NATO, which is clearly Congress’s intent, the U.S. and other members will be obligated to come to the aid of a nation that is expanding its borders and is currently engaged in hostilities with three of its neighbors. Israel has also initiated a series of regional wars. Whether NATO membership for Israel would benefit anyone is questionable, but it is something the neocons have been seeking for years, to turn Israel’s wars into a new crusade against the Muslim world.
http://www.gop.gov/bill/112/2/hr4133