US comes to the rescue of troubled Lebanese

BillieTheBot

BEIRUT, Lebanon - They endured a summer of war, but now relief is coming for Lebanon’s little known victims — cats and dogs abandoned when their owners fled the country during the early days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Some 300 of the former pets are being flown to the United States on Monday for adoption.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14997834/?GT1=8506


Let there not be said that the Americans don't care about of the plight of the Lebanese

Former Member

They certainly doing a lot more than most countries.

Former Member

Great news. :yeees:

Former Member

luke88 wrote:

They certainly doing a lot more than most countries.

That's true. I didn't see any other country rushing shipments of 5-ton bombs to Israel so they could drop them on the Lebanese.


Nice to see they care about puppies and kittens though.

Teh_Gerbil

luke88 wrote:

They certainly doing a lot more than most countries.

Not the Chinese, who have sent many peacekeepers with thte UN out there, and sadly, lost some, thanks the the Israelis continued plic of firing on anything and everything Ten times.

Nice to see this though. At least someone is thinking of the animals.

Former Member

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093125670

The US is giving $230 million for humanitarian, reconstruction and security assistance to Lebanon.

http://english.people.com.cn/200609/26/eng20060926_306292.html

President Bush has called for aid for Lebanon.

Former Member

I am glad some one is saving the animals!

Former Member

Aladdin wrote:

Nice to see they care about puppies and kittens though.

At least the US are bringing smiling faces to the place unlike many other countries.

Former Member

Teh_Gerbil wrote:

Not the Chinese, who have sent many peacekeepers with thte UN out there, and sadly, lost some, thanks the the Israelis continued plic of firing on anything and everything Ten times.

Don't you think it's about time China engaged with the rest of the world and used their troops to support the U.N? I believe they have only sent 1,000, clearly not much in comparision to thier population.

Teh_Gerbil wrote:

lost some, thanks the the Israelis continued plic of firing on anything and everything Ten times.

Source?

If this is the case then the answer is simple. Stop firing at Israel then.

Former Member

luke88 wrote:

At least the US are bringing smiling faces to the place unlike many other countries.

Bringing lots of smiles indeed, funny how you don't notice that America almost single handidly funds the Israeli war machine. It would be a sitting duck without America's help. This animal chirade is a load of bollocks!

Former Member

Yerascrote wrote:

Bringing lots of smiles indeed, funny how you don't notice that America almost single handidly funds the Israeli war machine. It would be a sitting duck without America's help. This animal chirade is a load of bollocks!

Yet more uninformed bollocks. :rolleyes:

US aid to Israel was equivalent to just 3.2 per cent of Israel's gross domestic product in 2004, compared with 14 per cent in 1986. American aid today is much more important for Jordan (14 per cent of GDP) and the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza (5.6 per cent) than it is for Israel.

Source.

Former Member

So fuck? It's still giving them the weapons and that's what I was talking about. You really think Israel would have nuclear capability if it weren't for America, bollocks it would.

Former Member

Yerascrote wrote:

So fuck? It's still giving them the weapons and that's what I was talking about.

The US like Britain and France is host to various arms manufacturers.

Yerascrote wrote:

You really think Israel would have nuclear capability if it weren't for America, bollocks it would.

America has not played any significant part (if any part at all) in Israel having nuclear capability. Israel received assistance mainly from France...

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

US aid to Israel was equivalent to just 3.2 per cent of Israel's gross domestic product in 2004, compared with 14 per cent in 1986. American aid today is much more important for Jordan (14 per cent of GDP) and the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza (5.6 per cent) than it is for Israel.

Source.

GDP of Israel: $114.3 billion (2005 est.)
3.2% = $3.7 billion

GDP of Jordan: $11.51 billion (2005 est.)
14% = $1.6 billion

None listed for West Bank or Gaza.

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Former Member

luke88 wrote:

At least the US are bringing smiling faces to the place unlike many other countries.

Do you think the US' rabid defence of Israel's war crimes (for that's what they were) and its support for the illegal as-hell bombing of civilians has brought any smiles to the people of Lebanon?

Not to mention the shipping of hundreds of extra missiles so the IDF could bomb them even more.

You're funny

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093125670

The US is giving $230 million for humanitarian, reconstruction and security assistance to Lebanon.

A grand gesture indeed, specially after they happily supplied Israel with all the bombs it needed to flatten Lebanon in the first place.

Indeed, as the chimp was finalising details of aid for Lebanon on line 1, he was authorising the urgent shipping of dozens of 5-tonne bombs to Israel on line 2.

That's what they called in the trade 'joined-up government' I believe...

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

Yet more uninformed bollocks. :rolleyes:

You believe that a country with a per capita annual income of $16,710 requires 30% of the entire U.S. budget for aid?

Former Member

Israel and the US are separate countries. As a proportional contribution to her GDP Israel is economically not particularly dependent on the US. Indeed, Israel does significantly more trade with EU member states than the US. The Israeli government would have taken what it viewed to be the necessary steps to defend itself with - or without the support of the US. American influence on Israel is often exaggerated.

I don't want to debate the rights and wrongs again of Hezbollah and the IDF but the implication that Israel is some horrific monster that simply mindlessly flattened Lebanon for the sake of it is ridiculous. Nobody can deny the fact that it's a dangerous situation where the Lebanese government does not have complete sovereignty with the private army of Hezbollah superseding the Lebanese govt in a part of the country. The int'l community ordered the disarming of Hezbollah. It did not happen and the result was that Hezbollah was able to inflame an already fragile situation.

I don't deny the fact that the Israelis were careless and trigger-happy in how they conducted themselves but the simple fact remains that had Hezbollah been disarmed they would not have been able to embroil Lebanon and Israel in a bloody war. While there are wrongs on both sides most of the blame must lie with those that allowed Hezbollah to prosper, Hezbollah effectively took the decision to take Lebanon to war - Lebanese sovereignty had to be restored.

Everybody now needs to focus on helping both Lebanon and Israel prosper with both enjoying secure and safe borders. At the same time Olmert should stick to his initial plan to withdraw from large sections of the West Bank. A Palestinian state is long overdue and regardless of the election of Hamas, two states living securely is the way to peace in the region.

Former Member

I'm With Stupid wrote:

You believe that a country with a per capita annual income of $16,710 requires 30% of the entire U.S. budget for aid?

Source? I don't know the percentages but my point was that Israel is less dependent on US aid than many other countries.

US aid to Israel should be slowly reduced and eventually scrapped. In the long run it is not good for Israel or the US. The background of the aid from the US to Israel was legitimate, as with lots of things - the CAP perhaps another example; they start with good reason then they steadily increase and become harder to get rid of.

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

Source?

Key Facts

* Total direct aid to Israel, 1948-2003
$89.9 billion (uncorrected for inflation)
* Since 1976 Israel has been the largest annual recipient of US aid. It is the largest cumulative recipient since World War II.
* Direct U.S. aid for each Israeli citizen in 2001 (per capita annual income of Israel = $16,710) -- over $500
* Direct U.S. Aid for each Ethiopian citizen in 2001 (per capita annual income of Ethiopia = $100) -- about $.45
* REGULAR US GRANT AID in FY 2003
$2.76 billion military aid grant
$2.1 billion economic support funds
$600 million refugee resettlement grant
* COMMERCIAL LOAN GUARANTEES IN FY 2003
$2 billion
* BUSH ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST FOR FY 2003
Military aid grant $1 billion
Commercial loan guarantees $9 billion
Arrow missile development $60 million
* TOTAL AID FOR FY 2003 $14.82 billion
* Percentage of U.S. foreign aid that goes to Israel -- 30%
* Israel's population as a percentage of world population -- .01%
* Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) states, "No assistance may be provided under this part to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." 22 U.S.C. 2304(a)
* Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act prohibits selling military equipment to countries that use them for non-self-defense purposes.
* The U.S. State Department determined in February 2001 that Israel has committed each of the acts that the law defines as "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person." It described Israeli army use of live ammunition against Palestinians when soldiers were not in impending danger as "excessive use of force."

SOURCES: Clyde R. Mark, ?Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance, Congressional Research Service, updated April 1, 2003; Clyde R. Mark, Middle East: U.S. Foreign Assistance, FY 2001, FY 2002, FY 2003 Congressional Research Service, March 28, 2002

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_17.shtml

But just do a Google search for "US aid Israel percentage" and there's tonnes about it.

Former Member

I've also stumbled across something which contradicts what I've just posted (there's a surprise). Possibly because it has been posted since the Iraq war, where far more US aid goes now. Anyway, it's quite a large report in a PDF file. Page 13 has a table of recipients of US aid.

Former Member

And? Less directly Britain (through the EU) has given the likes of Spain, Portugal and Greece billions, indeed through the EU we continue to do so. When US aid to Israel started, Israel wasn't much poorer in comparison to the US than say Spain was in relation to Britain.

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

And? Less directly Britain (through the EU) has given the likes of Spain, Portugal and Greece billions, indeed through the EU we continue to do so. When US aid to Israel started, Israel wasn't much poorer in comparison to the US than say Spain was in relation to Britain.

So that justifies it does it?

Former Member

I'm With Stupid wrote:

So that justifies it does it?

What do you mean? I don't support US aid to Israel and I don't support the EU propping up French farmers or giving money to 'poorer' EU members at Britain's expense. (Some of the biggest beneficiaries of EU aid include France, Ireland and Spain. They're not poor).

Admittedly France, Portugal and Morocco have never ganged up and tried to destroy Spain so I suppose historically there is some more justification for Israel getting US aid. Although I don't think there is anymore.

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

What do you mean? I don't support US aid to Israel and I don't support the EU propping up French farmers or giving money to 'poorer' EU members at Britain's expense. (Some of the biggest beneficiaries of EU aid include France, Ireland and Spain. They're not poor).

Well why not say "yeah I know, it's a disgrace" rather than insisting on pointing out a completely unrelated problem?

Former Member

I think there's a stark contrast in giving money to pay farmers/build roads etc etc and giving money to help bomb weak neighbouring countries.

Former Member

I'm With Stupid wrote:

Well why not say "yeah I know, it's a disgrace" rather than insisting on pointing out a completely unrelated problem?

Well some people seem to think that Israel is the only country in the world to get money from richer donors. Looking at certain EU members that is evidently not the case.

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

Well some people seem to think that Israel is the only country in the world to get money from richer donors. Looking at certain EU members that is evidently not the case.

All EU members contribute to the kitty. Fair enough, some countries and institutions get more money than others but it's not like the EU is some distinct separate entity outside Europe.

Former Member

Yerascrote wrote:

All EU members contribute to the kitty. Fair enough, some countries and institutions get more money than others but it's not like the EU is some distinct separate entity outside Europe.

That still doesn't change the fact that the EU gives billions in aid to rich countries (Spain, Ireland, etc) like the US gives billions in aid to a rich country. (Israel). You can dress it up however you want it all boils down to money and in both cases the beneficiaries of the aid are not poor.

Former Member

However none of the EU countries receive billions of dollars a year in military aid, and more to the point none of these countries are engaged in a 40-year old illegal occupation of another country and the oppression of its entire people.

The US however is happy to bankroll a regime that has committed more war crimes than one cares to think about, and it gives military aid that it is directly going to be used in further acts of aggression and murder.

The sight of the US expediting a shipping of missiles to Israel on the fourth week of the war as the entire world cried for the appalling slaughter of Lebanese civilians to end immediately was a profoundly repulsive one.

Incidentally, it has been disclosed that up to one million unexploded bomblets are littering Lebanon, thanks to Israel's indiscriminate use of evil cluster bombs.

Moreover, an incredible 90% of them were dropped in the last few days of the conflict when the ceasefire was about to come into effect- a militarily pointless, repugnant and quite deliberate act of revenge and murder for which the Israeli PM and those responsible in the IDF will hopefully rot in hell for all eternity like the fucking cunts they are.

Teh_Gerbil

luke88 wrote:

Source?

If this is the case then the answer is simple. Stop firing at Israel then.

I cant be fucked to look up it, its on the beed if ya want it anyway. Also om ChinA Defence blog. Im to fucked right now.

Anway, the UN wern't firing on the Israel. They asked like, TEN TIMES for them to stop firing. eech time Israel said it would. It didn't, and a Chinese officer died,#

Hardl good behaviour.