-
An Alternate History of the Syrian Civil War
June 19, 2013 | 1 comment
-
John Kerry, Secretary of Gaffes
April 25, 2013 | 9 comments
-
Rand Paul and Marco Rubio at CPAC
March 14, 2013 | 0 comments
-
SEQUESTER: The Dumbest Weight-Loss Plan Ever
March 1, 2013 | 0 comments
-
Israel’s Hard-Right Turn That Wasn’t
January 22, 2013 | 1 comment
The Spectacle Blog
Now that Lebanon has a government dominated by allies of Hezbollah, a bipartisan group of Congressmen think maybe it’s time to curtail US aid, Josh Rogin reports:
Now Howard Berman (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is pushing a bill to end almost all U.S. assistance to Lebanon. He’s joined by the top Lebanese-Americans in Congress, including Darrell Issa (R-CA), Charles Boustany (R-LA), and Nick Rahall (D-WV).
His bill, the Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act (HATA), is modeled on Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act (PATA) that Congress passed after Hamas won the 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council…
Berman had put a hold on assistance to Lebanon last summer, but later allowed the money to go through because he wanted to strengthen the LAF in its internal struggle against Hezbollah. But now the situation is totally different and he won’t back off, he said.
“The notion that the LAF will remain an island of independence under a government that is dominated and welded together by Hezbollah is a very different proposition,” he said.
Berman’s bill would still allow support for rule of law and democracy programs, educational funding, and even training of Lebanese forces in America under the IMET program. The president would also be able to waive restrictions in the law in cases that were deemed to be in the national security interests of the U.S.
His GOP counterpart, HFAC chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is generally supportive of the idea and is considering supporting the bill, Berman said.
Of course, when it comes to dealing with Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon, adjusting foreign aid to Beirut is no substitute for a strategy toward Hezbollah’s sponsors in Tehran and Damascus. On the latter, Lee Smith (who argues that the composition of the new Lebanese government undermines a pet theory of Obama counterterrorism czar John Brennan’s) explains some of the steps for putting pressure on Assad that the Obama administration has so far declined to take.
View all comments (18) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John Tabin
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/17/time-to-cut-aid-to-lebanon
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Red Phillips | 6.17.11 @ 9:52PM
It's time to cut foreign aid to EVERY country.
Occam's Tool| 6.17.11 @ 10:46PM
Red, it's time to support our allies and kill our enemies.
Read about how the Byzantines survived. With guys like you in charge, we'll be lucky to last until 2030.
Red Phillips | 6.17.11 @ 11:23PM
Occam, we'll be lucky to last until 2030 if we keep trying to act like an empire even though we're broke.
Where in the Constitution does it authorize welfare payments to foreign governments? I thought conservatives opposed welfare.
Occam's Tool| 6.18.11 @ 7:06PM
For defense purposes, it is acceptable to build up allies so that they can serve as bases for us.
Hey, I'm the one that thinks we should pull out of NATO. But the ME is /were our enemies here, and they were our enemies Centuries before Israel ("Halls of Montezuma, Shores of Tripoli predates WWII, Red. Goes back to Jefferson.).
We can get out of many places, but The ME holds our oil and the people we need to kill.
Occam's Tool| 6.18.11 @ 7:20PM
Aid to Israel's not welfare. It's military aid to a government that serves as safe place for the US Fleet in that area to be repaired and resupplied, unlike ALL the other countries in that region. Israel also serves as a superb intelligence gathering source, as they are strong where we are weak---humint.
You fail to realize that we are fighting a war that we would be fighting even if Israel never existed or ceases to be. It happens to be an ally in that war, and if I hear about the 1967 incident or Beirut (where the Israelis never thought we should have been in the first place, correctly) I'm going to puke. That war is getting more serious by the day, because all wars are decided by population pressures, and the demographics are against us.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff to cut, and yeah, most foreign aid is worthless. So are most Cabinet positions. But there's a purpose to State, Defense, Treasury, and the Interior, and there's a purpose to military aid to our most powerful ally.
Yeah, they don't fight in Iraq or Af-Pak with us---that's because we won't let them. But they do MANY other things for us.
bluecollarbytes| 6.18.11 @ 9:27AM
Foreign aid should be looked at regularly, cutting it off when it serves OUR best interests, just as when it's given in OUR interests.
It's time to break free from assumptions, such as on aid, wars, and other diplomatic endeavors. Aid, otherwise known as bribes in some quarters, has long been known to enrich the corrupt rulers who receive it. Then we deal with resentments of the populace, since we are the ones who've funded the oppression.
martin j smith| 6.18.11 @ 11:58AM
Foreign aid to be contingent that the country we assist must have democratic values and treat their citizens with decency and humaneness. Ok this is relative but here is an example: Lebanon versus
Israel( yes I know that Left hates Israel no matter what as do the Ron Paul Isolationists and their ilk )But in my view there is no comparison nor is their any comparison with Iran. How about Japan versus North Korea or even China( the PRC I mean ). There are many countries I would not give foreign aid . Speaking of which our dollars to the UN are criminal and a total loss and misspent
as well. Yes those countries that refuse to feed their citizens,put political dissidents in jail should not get a penny. And, lets add those countries that do not allow for free speech and press--uh oh-that means our country might not qualify either.
Clint| 6.18.11 @ 2:10PM
Dr.Ron Paul:
"It’s not in Israel’s best interest to be so dependent on us because they give up their sovereignty and then we tell them what to do, so we’re in charge, they have to listen to us, they get all this money and then if we decide that balance should go to the Palestinians rather than to Israel then a lot of trouble comes from this. So it gave me a perfect time to argue the case for nonintervention and that is let the countries over there settle their disputes, not done with American money. Just think how many dollars we spend trying to buy peace over there and the more we spend the poorer we get and of course we never see the results, we don’t see peace."
Nonintervention is distinct from isolationism, the latter featuring economic nationalism (protectionism) and restrictive immigration. Proponents of non-interventionism distinguish their polices from isolationism through their advocacy of more open national relations, to include diplomacy and free trade.
Occam's Tool| 6.18.11 @ 7:07PM
Yes, and I've noticed how regularly Ron Paul DOESN'T criticize Israeli self-defense moves.
Occam's Tool| 6.18.11 @ 7:12PM
So, Clint:
you support open borders?
Oldefarte| 6.18.11 @ 2:38PM
LEBANON??????????? We should eliminate/cut foreign aid to EVERY FOREIGN COUNTRY that we PEE-PEE down a rathole wastefully of taxpayers' hard earned money. WHY JUST LEBANON??????????????
Red Phillips | 6.18.11 @ 3:52PM
Oldefarte gets it right. It is embarrassing that on a supposedly conservative website there is support for foreign aid of any kind. Foreign aid is unconstitutional. Nothing in the Constitution authorizes it. On top of that, we're broke. On a conservative website there should be 100% agreement with cutting 100% of foreign aid. This is an easy one. If we can't cut the easy things, how can we cut the hard things?
Occam's Tool| 6.18.11 @ 7:11PM
Red,
Oldefarte does not advocate abandoning Israel, as you do.
We are in a war to the death with Sharia advocates. They will come after us no matter who we abandon. The takeover of our embassy in Iran in 1979 had NOTHING to do with Israel.
It is best to fight enemies with allies than to engage in the massive job of building the infrastructure oneself. Buchanan and Paul fail to recognize who our enemies are. They are the reincarnation of the idiot Burton K Wheeler. Like Wheeler, they are going to get hundreds of thousands of Americans maimed or killed by their ridiculous perspectives, as will you, Red.
"Conservative" is not an excuse for being a blind fool. On defense, "you spend what you need." The guy who said that was Ronald Reagan.
Red Phillips | 6.19.11 @ 12:37PM
"The takeover of our embassy in Iran in 1979 had NOTHING to do with Israel."
I know. It had to do with our previous meddling in Iran. You can't possibly dispute this. This is a fact.
Ore Gone| 6.19.11 @ 4:46PM
We need bases around the world to support our assets and they are normally located in countries that are friendly to us who support us and likewise. This arrangement serves us well and should be continued but money to countries that hate us and seek our death should be stopped. I think somebody called it tough love. Let the people of these hateful regimes determine their destiny but it is obvious that you can't buy their freedom from a theocracy that has an agenda of death. Words are cheap.. lets give them words.
Sarbojit| 6.20.11 @ 1:59AM
Back then, when Obama delivered his cringe-inducing Cairo speech, some perceptive ... VERY perceptive ... commentators predicted this very development ... the demise of the Cedar Revolution and the empowerment of Hezbollah. Not long after that speech, Saad Hariri was visiting Damascus and kowtowing to Assad. Now, he;s gone and Nasirullah is in.
Well done, Obama. Islam loves you.
weddingdresses | 6.20.11 @ 2:31AM
"The notion that the LAF will remain an island of independence under a government that is dominated and welded together by Hezbollah is a very different proposition," he said.
yisong| 10.30.11 @ 10:19PM
double-row reducing ball type slewing bearing. http://www.1stbearing.com