The president once again crossed the line of civility with his bullying at the United Nations, threatening our client states, “our boys on the block,” as Noam Chomsky called them, by withholding funds because they didn’t vote “with us.” The matter on which they broke ranks was the issue of our locating our embassy in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv.
No doubt the practice of votes for money has gone on for a long time, but President Donald Trump is the first to call it out in his crass, crude commentary.
It’s probably an idle threat, as are many of his pronouncements, but with his limited knowledge, he didn’t consider the cost of withholding those funds. Parts of our foreign aid, called foreign military financing, are grants to U.S. allies to allow them to buy defense equipment made in the United States, a boost for the domestic defense industry.
So the money comes back here. Of the $5.7 billion request for FMF for 2017, $3.1 billion was for Israel, $1.3 billion for Egypt and $350 million for Jordan, the three largest recipients. The rest was divided up among various other nations.
But not to worry; the weapon makers have other ways to keep our reputation as the world’s largest arms dealer. Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin’s CEO, optimistically estimated that continuing “volatility” in both the Middle East and Asia would make them “growth areas” for the foreseeable future. A Pentagon agency, known as the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, facilitated arms deals of $40 billion in 2016.
The sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia brought us remarkable photos of Mr. Trump doing a sword dance with the princes, soon followed by photos of dead and injured citizens of Yemen, struck by weapons made in the USA and used by the Saudis. So how “great” is that?
BETTE McDEVITT
North Side
