The war in the Middle-East is moving beyond Israel bombing targets in Syria and Lebanon and the ongoing invasion of Lebanon, but now "US, British forces launch airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, targeting weapons systems and bases" reports the New York Post.
The US and British militaries launched a blistering barrage of missiles at more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday — obliterating the Iranian-backed rebels’ weapons systems, bases and other equipment, officials said.
Fighter jets and warships bombed the militant strongholds at five separate locations, according to US officials.
Seven missiles struck the airport in the major port city of Hodeida and the Katheib area, which is home to a rebel-controlled military base, Al Masirah TV, the main Houthi-run news outlet, reported.
Four other strikes hit the capital, Sanaa, and two more targeted Dhamar province, according to the outlet.
Meanwhile, multiple air raids were also reported in Bayda province.
Whatever you might think of the various combatants in the Ukrainian conflict or the Israeli-Palestinian-Hezbollah-Houthi conflict, these conflicts are significant money sinks. As Vox Day noted earlier today in his piece, "They Hate You," the federal government has spent "$35.7 billion for the Kiev and Tel Aviv regimes this year alone, and less than nothing for Americans in need."
As for Israel, the Council on Foreign Relations stated earlier this year that "Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $310 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance." The same CFR article relates:
... Since October 7[, 2023], the Biden administration has reportedly made more than one hundred military aid transfers to Israel, although only two—totalling about $250 million—have met the aforementioned congressional review threshold and been made public. The Israeli military has reportedly received expedited deliveries of weapons from a strategic stockpile that the United States has maintained in Israel since the 1980s. Shortly after Hamas’s attack, the United States also agreed to lease Israel two Iron Dome missile defense batteries that Washington had previously purchased from the country.
The extraordinary flow of aid has included tank and artillery ammunition, bombs, rockets, and small arms. In April 2024, news reports said the Biden administration was considering new military sales to Israel that are valued at more than $18 billion and would include fifty F-15 fighter aircraft, although the shipments wouldn't arrive for years. The Israeli military is also reportedly purchasing some high-tech products, such as surveillance drones, directly from smaller U.S. manufacturers.
Earlier this year, Congress approved $14.1 billion for Israel. That amount didn't include an additional $1 billion earmarked for humanitarian assistance for Gaza. (Although another article indicated that $9 billion was for humanitarian assistance and yet another source said $17 billion was for military assistance to Israel). And since the CFR piece was published, it has been reported that Israel was given an $8.7 billion U.S. aid package, including "$3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement, which has already been received and earmarked for critical military purchases, and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems including the Iron Dome anti-missile system, David's Sling and an advanced laser system." I believe this is in addition to the billions approved in the spring.
Conversely, FEMA is touting that the "Biden-Harris Administration Provides More Than $20 Million to Hurricane Helene Survivors..." and the U.S. Department of Transportation is crowing, "Biden-Harris Administration Sends South Carolina $2 Million in Emergency Relief Funding for Roads and Bridges Damaged by Hurricane Helene."
Looks like we aren't their constituents.
ReplyDeleteWe never have been. They just pretend we are when elections roll around.
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