#Military Aid

[hassanac33]

[mapsontheweb]

Military aid to Ukraine per capita compared to USA

[phoenixyfriend]

Can you explain the Iran-Israel situation please?

Alright, let's get to it. Please note that I'm writing this on mobile during my lunch break, so I can't include reference/source links as much as I'd like. Thankfully, most of what I'm going to be telling you should be easily located by searching for an article on one of the following: APNews, Reuters, BBC Global News Podcast, Democracy Now!, NPR, or The New York Times. Long-term background is probably best found in videos by the YouTube channels Real Life Lore or tldr global news, or on Wikipedia if you prefer text.

The short version: Israel attacked Iran's consulate in Syria to get at some of the military commanders that were there, which is legally equivalent to attacking Iran itself. Iran responded by sending about 300 bombs at Israel, most of which were shot down in transit. Given that they still called it a success, even though it seems only one person was even hurt, my understanding is that it's very likely that they only intended the rockets to be a show of force, rather than an actual escalation, because Iran can't afford a war right now.

To support my blogging so I can move out of my parents’ house, I do have a ko-fi. Alternately, you can donate to one of the charities I list in this post OR this post.

The long version:

Okay, let's start with some background on Israel, then Iran. This is... a lot, so if you already know the broad strokes skip down to 2023.

Israel was established following WWII by the English and French, following borders the two countries had secretly drawn up decades earlier in the Sykes-Picot agreement. The intent was to give the Jewish people a place to go... or, depending on who you ask, a place to send them. Their ancestral homeland was viewed as the best choice, sort of like a deportation millennia after a diaspora. Given that WWII had just ended by the time Sykes-Picot was actually put into effect, 'getting out of Europe' was something a lot of Jews were given to agree with.

The Arab world was not happy, as that land had belonged to the Ottomans for centuries, and had long since 'naturalized' to being Arab. I'm not going to pretend to know the nuances to when people do or do not consider Palestine to have been its own nation; it was an Ottoman state until WWI, at which point it came under British control for just under three decades, and that period is known as the British Mandate of Palestine; it ended after WWII, with the creation of Israel. Palestine's land and people have sort of just been punted around from one colonizer to another for centuries.

Iran is the current form of what was once Persia. They were an empire for a very long time, and were a unitary monarchy up until the early 20th century; in 1925, Iran elected a Prime Minister who was then declared the monarch. The following several decades had Iran's monarchy slowly weakened, and occasionally beset by foreign interventions, including a covert coup by the US and UK in 1953. The country also became more corrupt throughout the 1970s due to economic policy failing to control inflation in the face of rising oil prices.

In 1979, there was a revolution that overthrew the monarchy and the elected government, replacing the system with a theocracy and declaring Iran to be an Islamic Republic, with the head of state being a religious authority, rather than an elected one. This was not popular with... most countries. 1980 saw the closure of all universities (reopened in 1983 with government-approved curriculums), as well as the taking of over fifty American hostages from the US Embassy in Iran. You may have heard about that in the context of Ronald Reagan encouraging Iran to keep the hostages until the end of Carter's term in order to force the election.

So, the West didn't like having an Islamic state because it claims to like democracy, and also because the Islamic state was explicitly anti-American and this has some Bad Effects on oil prices. The Soviets didn't like having an Islamic State because a theocracy goes directly against a lot of communist values (or at least the values they claim to have), and weakened any influence their supposedly secular union could have on Iran and the wider middle east. The other countries in the Arab world, many of them still monarchies, didn't like the Islamic republic because if the revolution spread, then it was possible their monarchies would be overthrown as well.

(Except Oman, which is not worried, but that's the exception, not the rule.)

This is not a baseless worry, because Iran has stated that this is its goal for the Arab world. Overthrow the monarchies, overthrow the elected governments, Islamic Rule for everyone. That is the purpose of its proxies, like Hezbollah (Lebanon), the Houthis (Yemen), and Hamas (Palestine), along with less well-known groups like the Salafi Jihadists in Mali, who are formally under the umbrella of al-Quaeda, which Iran denies having any relation to but is suspected of funding. In areas where these proxy groups have gained power, they are liable to enact hard Shari'a law such as has happened in Northern Mali and other parts of the Sahel region.

While other conflicts have occurred in these countries, I think the above is most relevant.

Israel has repeatedly attacked, or been attacked by, other nations in the middle east, as they are viewed as having taken over land that is not theirs, and as being a puppet of the US government. The biggest conflicts have been 1947-1948, 1968/1973, and 2014.

And then, of course, 2023.

Now, Iran, more than any other nation in the Middle East, hates Israel. They have for a very long time, viewing them as an affront to the goal of spreading Islam across the whole of the middle east, and as being a front and a staging ground for the United States and other Western powers. Two common refrains in the slogans of Iran and its proxies are "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

Due to Iran's military power and virulence towards Israel, the United States has been funneling money to Israel for decades. It has more generally been to defend itself against the Arab world at large, but it has narrowed over the decades to being about Iran and its proxies as relations have normalized with other nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Cue October 7th, 2023. Hamas invades Israeli towns, kills some people, and takes others as hostage. Israel retaliates, and the conflict ramps up into what is by now tens of thousands of dead, some half of which are children.

In this time, Hamas's allies are, by definition, Iran and the other proxy forces. Hezbollah, being in Lebanon, share a border with Israel's north. They have been trading rocket fire across the border in waves for most of the past six months. The Houthis, down in Yemen, claim to be attacking the passing cargo ships in order to support Palestine. Given that the attacks often seem indiscriminate, and that the Houthi's control over their portion of Yemen is waning in the face of their poor governance, this is... debatable. It's their official reason, but given that "let's attack passing ships, claiming that we only attack Israeli or American ships and that it is to support Palestine" is rallying support domestically for their regime, it does seem to be more of a political move to garner support at home than about supporting Palestine.

Iran, however, has not attacked Israel. They've spoken out about it, yes, but they haven't done anything because nobody wants a regional war. Nobody can afford it right now. Iran is dealing with a domestic crisis due to oil subsidies bleeding the states' coffers dry, and the aging Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran, refusing to pick a successor. They are looking at both an economic crisis and succession crisis, and a regional war would fuck up both situations further. Iran funds most of its proxies, and they can't do that, and fight a war on top of it, while their economy is in its current state. Pure self preservation says they don't want a war, especially with the ongoing unrest that's been going on for... well, basically since the revolution, but especially since the death of Mahsa Amini.

Meanwhile, in Israel, Netanyahu has been looking at corruption charges and legal issues since before the Hamas attack. It's generally agreed that if Israel were to hold new elections right now, he would lose and be replaced, and also immediately taken to court. Netanyahu wants to stay in power, and as long as the war on Hamas lasts, he is unlikely to get voted out. A change in leadership in the middle of a war is rarely a good idea for any country, and he's banking on that.

However, the war on Hamas rests on the shoulders of American money and supplies. Without that military support, Israel cannot fight this war, and America... is losing patience.

Officially, America and most of the western world have been telling Israel to not fucking escalate for the majority of the war.

There have been implied threats, more or less since Schumer's big speech about how Israel needs a new election, of American legislators putting conditions on any future aid. There have even been rumblings of aid being retracted entirely if Israel follows through on invading Raffah.

So...

American aid to Israel has, for a very long time, been given in the name of defending Israel against Iran and its proxies.

Israel has been fighting this war against Hamas for six months, killing what is by now innumerable civilians, on the power of US military aid.

Netanyahu benefits from the continued war due to domestic troubles.

Iran does not want a regional war, or really any big war, due to its own domestic troubles.

The US is, in theory, losing patience with Israel and threatening to pull the plug on unconditional support. It's very "we gave you this to fight Iran. Stop attacking civilians. If you keep attacking civilians, then you're going to have to rely on what we already gave you to fight off Iran so that you won't keep wasting it on civilians."

Israel... attacks Iran, prompting a response, and is now talking about escalating with Iran.

I am not explicitly saying that it looks to me like Israel, which is already fighting a war on two physical fronts and even more political/economic ones, has picked a fight with Iran so that America feels less like it is able to withdraw support.

I just... am finding it hard to understand why Israel, which is in fact fighting both Hamas and Hezbollah, would attack the Iranian consulate in Syria otherwise. They can't actually afford to fight this war, escalating to a full regional conflict, on a third front.

Not without pressuring American into keeping the faucet of military funding open at full blast.

To support my blogging so I can move out of my parents’ house, I do have a ko-fi. Alternately, you can donate to one of the charities I list in this post OR this post.

[destielmemenews]

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[ohsalome]

People who tell you they they don't trust the media will read headlines and immediately trust them when they say that this many millions or this many billions are in a new aid package to Ukraine. What they don't understand is that most of the time the value of the military aid that is being sent over was already paid for for our use, in some cases decades ago. It is going to expire at some point, and since we're definitely not going to use it, what that means is that we'd actually pay more to dispose of that weaponry then we pay when we send it to Ukraine. So what we're doing now actually is a cost-saving thing. Instead of paying to dispose that weaponry we are paying less to dispose of Russians.

- James, aka Spaghetti Kozak in the Toronto TV podcast

[eretzyisrael]

by Jack Elbaum

After the US decided to waive human rights conditions in order to send military aid to Egypt, many of the prominent advocates of an arms embargo on weapons sales to Israel remained silent, raising questions about consistency.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced it would override human rights concerns in order to send $1.3 billion in military to Egypt. This is the first time the Biden administration has sent the full amount of assistance since it took power in 2021, as a portion of the aid is conditional.

A review of social media posts by The Algemeiner found that many of the most outspoken supporters of imposing a US arms embargo on Israel have remained silent regarding Washington waiving human rights conditions on Egypt’s aid.

US Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Cori Bush (D-MO), and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), have not commented on the waiving of human rights conditions, despite making human rights as it relates to foreign policy a central theme of their respective terms recently. Major anti-Israel groups such as Code Pink have also not spoken against the decision on Egypt, despite their intense focus on foreign affairs issues.

The fact that such leaders and organizations have remained silent on the issue — yet been so vocal when it comes to opposing Israel — raises questions about whether their true motivations have been concern with human rights or if they were primarily political, performative, or motivated by a particular animus or a double standard toward Israel.

Some, however, have remained more consistent.

[rednblacksalamander]

Paradox game.

[alyfoxxxen]

Russia-Ukraine war: Biden announces $2.5B in military aid for Ukraine | AP News

[workersolidarity]

🇺🇸🇺🇦 🚨

UNITED STATES SENDS LONG-RANGE ATACMS MISSILES TO UKRAINE

A report published by Reuters on Wednesday says the Biden administration has quietly sent long-range ATACMS missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The report claims the missiles are for use to fend off "Russian invaders," however, the Ukrainian military over the last year has used its HIMARS missile systems to bombard civilian areas of Russian and Ukrainian cities under the control of the Russian government, including attacks on Russian oil fields.

The long-range missiles were included in the latest $300 million military aid package for Kiev, approved by the Biden administration on March 12th, and were used for the first time in a strike on a Russian airfield in Crimea on April 12th, according to a U.S. official who spoke with Reuters under condition of anonymity.

The long-range ATACMS missiles have a range of up to 300km (187mi), which the Pentagon previously opposed sending to Ukraine out of concerns over U.S. military readiness and worries that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would use the missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[mapsontheweb]

Countries that provide military aid to Ukraine, January 2023.

by u/KungUnderBerget

Worth noting is that this map only counts bi-lateral military aid provided by national governments, so funds or materiel provided through the EU, for example, is not included. Neither is the sale of military hardware.

In the case where the nature of the military equipment provided, lethal vs. non-lethal, is unknown (as with Albania) I have defaulted to non-lethal.

Iceland has no military of its own. So, instead of sending military equipment, it has helped shipping military equipment from other countries, like Slovenia, to Ukraine.

Both Colombia and Cambodia have committed to the training of Ukrainian deminers.

[ivygorgon]

AN OPEN LETTER to THE PRESIDENT & U.S. CONGRESS

Enforce Leahy! No funding to IDF troops who’ve committed human rights abuses!

354 so far! Help us get to 500 signers!

I’ve just learned from Pro Publica that “a special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses.” But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal. This in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza.

I’m livid about this. We cannot keep sending unconditional military aid to anyone, regardless of whom, if they are committing human rights abuses. We have Leahy laws to prevent it, and they are not being enforced here. It’s unacceptable.

The U.S. government needs to stop giving the Israeli government a blank check. Israel has a right to defend itself, of course, but the abuses described in Pro Publica’s report can’t be defined as self defense under anyone’s definition of the term. They’re abhorrent and our tax dollars mustn’t be spent on them. Thanks.

▶ Created on April 17 by Jess Craven

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[affairsmastery]

North Korean troops reportedly killed 300 Ukrainian soldiers and reclaimed the village of Plyokhovo in the Kursk region within two hours on December 6. The attack, described as a “hurricane” by the Russian Telegram channel Romanov Light, left no survivors as the forces took no prisoners. Ukraine's Defense Ministry has not commented, but pro-Russian politician Oleg Tsaryov confirmed the news without providing further details.

This comes amid deepening ties between Russia and North Korea, marked by a defense pact signed in June and formalized this week after an exchange of ratification documents. North Korea has reportedly sent over 10,000 soldiers to Russia, according to accusations by the United States and South Korea.

The presence of North Korean forces in Russia, first reported by Washington, has intensified concerns among global leaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for their withdrawal, fearing an escalation in the conflict. Additionally, Pyongyang’s support has included supplying artillery shells and military aid, further solidifying the military partnership with Moscow. The move highlights North Korea’s growing involvement in the Ukraine war and its strengthening defiance of international sanctions.

[originalleftist]

Biden warns US military aid to Israel could be cut if aid doesn't reach Gaza.

Looks like Biden has finally had enough of trying to be diplomatic with Netanyahu, and being sabotaged in return.

Just as long as the Iron Dome isn't compromised (and I don't think Biden would- he singled that out as a red line before). That's a defensive system, there's literally no reason to sabotage it unless you want more dead Israelis (including civilians), and/or more escalation.

[tmarshconnors]

STOP HELPING UKRAINE!

The war between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on for over a year now, and the West, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, has poured billions into military aid, equipment, and financial assistance for Ukraine. The argument has been that Ukraine needs our support to defend itself against Russian aggression, which, in theory, could pose a broader threat to Europe and even global security. But is this endless funding truly in the best interest of our nations? I argue that it is not.

Unintended Consequences: Economic Strain on the West

Let’s start with the practical issue: the economic toll on our countries. We are facing significant domestic challenges – from economic recessions and rising inflation to unemployment and energy crises. Yet, despite these struggles, billions of taxpayer dollars and pounds continue to flow out to fund a conflict halfway across the world.

Consider the impact on everyday citizens. Energy prices have skyrocketed, in part because of sanctions on Russian oil and gas, but also due to our funding of this seemingly never-ending conflict. Instead of investing in infrastructure, healthcare, or education at home, we’re propping up a country that, quite frankly, needs to take responsibility for its own survival.

What’s Really at Stake?

While it's easy to frame this war as a moral crusade against tyranny, it’s far more complex than that. Ukraine is not a perfect democracy, and its issues with corruption are well-documented. Are we truly supporting a nation based on democratic ideals, or are we merely caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war with Russia? Either way, the continued funneling of funds is draining resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

Moreover, the West has already armed Ukraine to the teeth, providing advanced weaponry and training. The Ukrainian military is now well-equipped to hold its own. So why are we still providing an endless cash flow? At what point do we say, "Enough is enough"?

Ukraine's Responsibility to Defend Itself

At some point, we must allow Ukraine to stand on its own two feet. Nations throughout history have had to fend for themselves in times of crisis, and Ukraine should be no exception. This is their fight, after all. If they wish to preserve their sovereignty and independence, it’s their duty to do so.

One might argue that cutting off funding would be abandoning Ukraine to a Russian takeover. But that's an oversimplified view. Ukraine has proven its resilience time and time again. They have the will to fight; what they now need is the determination to do so without relying on endless Western support. The question isn't whether they can defend themselves – it's whether they will if left to their own devices.

Western Nations Need to Prioritize Their Own Citizens

The well-being of our own citizens should always be our primary concern. Our governments are elected to serve ourinterests, not to act as the world's police force or charity. With millions struggling to make ends meet, is it really fair to continue sending our hard-earned money to a foreign conflict?

We need to refocus on issues that matter at home: rebuilding our economies, strengthening national security, and addressing the energy crisis. Instead of being distracted by far-off wars, let’s direct our efforts toward solving our domestic problems.

The Risk of Prolonging the Conflict

Finally, there's the risk that by continuing to fund Ukraine, we are merely prolonging the conflict. If both sides know that Western money and weapons will keep flowing, where's the incentive for peace? By stepping back, we encourage diplomatic solutions rather than an endless military stalemate.

It’s time for the West to rethink its role in the Russia-Ukraine war. While supporting Ukraine was initially seen as a moral and strategic necessity, the continued funding is proving to be more of a burden than a benefit. Ukraine has the means to defend itself. Now it must find the resolve to do so independently. Our priorities should shift back to addressing the needs of our citizens, and it's high time we let Ukraine face Russia on its own terms.

After all, every nation must ultimately be responsible for its own survival.

[destielmemenews]

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