Summer questions are like gnats. They won’t disappear even if you swipe them. Take them on.
The Biden administration has cut science and technology grants to Ariel University, located in the West Bank. According to the Biden administration’s spokesman, “engaging… with Israel on geographic areas… that are subjected final status negotiations would be inconsistent with US Foreign Policy.”
First, is it BDS to boycott Israeli products (physical or intellectual) that originate from Judea and Samaria? Second, does US cooperation with Palestinians on territories that are awaiting final status after the illegal Jordanian occupation in 1949 also “contravene” with US foreign policy? Between 2021 and 2020, the US will give $500 million to PA. The US will also donate $344 million to UNRWA in 2022, restoring the US as the largest donor.
In the same vein, the US restored funds to EcoHealth Alliance. This US-based organization had conducted bat research at Wuhan Institute of Technology, when this was illegal in the US. Its director had been a collaborator for many years with China’s “bat woman,” Shi Zhengli. Question: What?
Change gears.
According to an Israeli security analyst’s report, State Department officials asked for “clarifications”, regarding Israel’s use a UAV in killing 3 West Bank militants. The U.S. official said that the introduction of armed UAVs could lead to a loosening of the rules of engagement, in an area where there is a need for de-escalation.
Why? President Barack Obama used armed droids to kill US nationals abroad, including a boy of 16 years old – raising serious questions about summary execution. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Obama authorized 542 drone attacks that killed an estimated 3,797 civilians including a 16-year-old boy and an American aid worker.
Biden’s administration used drones to kill an Afghan family, including seven children, during our horrendously mismanaged departure from Kabul.
In 2015, Obama stated, “This is an targeted, focused effort on people who are listed as active terrorists and who are trying… to harm Americans, to hit American facilities, American base, etc… I think we have to use judiciousness… drones haven’t caused a large number of civilian deaths.” They have mostly been precision strikes that are very precise.
Does he not consider 324 civilians to be a large number? Would he not think Israel is at least as judicious and as capable as the US in this regard?
Israel seems to do a better job at avoiding civilian deaths a) when the space is near Israeli civilians, and b), against an enemy who is devoted to hiding in front of their own civilians while aiming for Israeli civilians.
This is not a valid question.
The Russians, on the other hand don’t seem to be as scrupulous. There are no figures here, as there aren’t any independent and reliable reports.
Here’s your question: The Wall Street Journal reports that the drones will have parts made in China by 2023.
It is important to ask: how can the Biden Administration continue to unfreeze millions of dollars for the mullah government in Iran when it knows that they are selling drones to be used against our dependents and allies in Ukraine? Are we willing and able to fund both sides in the war? Ick.
Human Rights Watch has a separate question and a new one: how can the US give money to a regime which hangs its enemies from cranes? According to Human Rights Watch, 192 people have been executed, including eight women, since the start of the year. According to the NGO Iran Human Rights, there have been 354 executions. Even the UN – EVEN – called for a halt to the “horrific waves of executions.”
Finally, France.
It is a tragedy that this occurs during the American Independence Day. France is our friend and ally. It’s our partner. And, it was one of the fathers of American Independence.
France literally is on fire from top to bottom. Over the weekend in Paris, rioters desecrated and set ablaze an apartment building.
Why does the US administration not speak out against threats to French democracy but, when the democratically-elected Israeli government introduced a judicial bill – an entirely domestic issue – they called it a threat to Israeli democracy? Why did the US administration say nothing about threats to French democracy, but when the democratically elected Israeli government put forward a judicial reform bill – a thoroughly domestic matter – they called it a “threat to Israeli democracy”?
