Obama Chooses Israel Over Scientific Advances

Obama Chooses Israel Over Scientific Advances
Mike Mullenix

At a time when settlement freezes, war crime accusations against Israel, their subsequent refusal to investigate the claims, and their ongoing removal of families from East Jerusalem, Obama continues to refuse to bring Israel to the negotiating table by tying US funds to a settlement freeze. On the contrary, the President has chosen to eliminate many scientific programs, including the NASA Constellation program, but yet is still sending funds to Israel.

NASA has only spent 9 Billion dollars on the project over a 2 year period, which to most Americans seems like a tremendous amount, and it is. However, the benefits the space program has brought to us over the years has generated far more dollars in the economy than are spent, and was cut from this years budget. At first glance, people would agree that this is a waste of money in a tight economy with a huge deficit, until you look at where other dollars are going.

Over the past two years, the same two years that NASA spent 9 billion dollars in, we have just given, handed over the Israel with no intent to repay, the same 9 billion dollars. In addition to those 9 billion, since 1974, Israel has received nearly $100 billion in assistance from the US (Jewishvirtuallibrary.org). As an American taxpayer who is concerned about our debt, I am also concerned about giving away our future, to help another country, who is being a bully and thug to its neighbors in the region.

In the early 1970’s, I can see where Israel played some strategic importance, like the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan did in their time, or Noriega in Panama did in his time, or Saddam Hussein did in his time, these are all people and groups we, as Americans, supported at one time or the other, because of the intelligence value they had. But like the others, Israel also has come to an end of it’s usefulness to Americans. Just like all the others who went from being an asset to being a liability, to which we then eliminated from the payroll. Israel no longer provides any strategic importance or provides any value to us.

We can no longer say that Israel is our only friend in the Middle East, that is just not true. Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, hell, even Iran has provided more strategic intelligence regarding the war on terror than Israel has provided. After 9/11/2001 Iranians were on the streets, Palestinians were on the street, not celebrating but showing support FOR the US, carrying candles and crying. Netanyahu was quoted as saying that it was the best thing to happen for Israel. Israel is self-serving and Israel assists the US when it serves their interest, but attacks the US when it does not serve their interests, (see USS Indepedence). As US relationships amongst Arab countries continue to improve, the value of the US-Israeli relationship is less and less important.

At some point in time, we will need to have a President who has the courage to stand up to the Israeli lobbies, to do what is morally right, to stop the justifications of Israel being our friend and we will stand with them, and stop this unceasing flow of money to Israel unless they want to play the peace card. Israel has not been a friend of the US since we halted their expansionism during the 1973 war with Egypt, which caused the Israeli attack on the USS Independence.

Some would say anti-Semitism has a role to play in my articles, except that most of my well-educated American Jewish friends, are repeating what I say. There is a disconnect between the state of relations between Israel and the US and reality. When we start acting as we have professed, we will have no reason to support the government in Israel which is standing now, which is forcibly relocating Palestinians from East Jerusalem, from deporting peace activists, from attacking innocent women and children, from disregarding the UN Goldstone report, from using phosphorous bombs on infants, to using children and human shields. This is not what I pay taxes to support, this is not what I morally espouse and is not what I was raised as an American to believe we support. Peace will come when Israel wants it, but we as Americans should not subsidize their desire to ignore peace, in exchange for stealing land, resources, and committing genocide on the Palestinian peoples.