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54267
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Biden sending $1 Billion more in weapons, ammo to continue genocide
URL: https://apnews.com/article/us-israel-arms-gaza-ebe971ca8878ff430ce6458c04151585
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Biden administration is sending $1 billion more in weapons, ammo to Israel, congressional aides say BY SEUNG MIN KIM, ELLEN KNICKMEYER AND ZEKE MILLER May 14, 2024 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, three congressional aides said Tuesday. It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold this month. The administration has said it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in its growing offensive in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah. The White House has come under criticism from both sides of the political spectrum in the U.S. over its military support for Israel’s now seven-month war against Hamas in Gaza. Some of President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats have pushed him to limit transfers of offensive weapons to Israel to pressure the U.S. ally to do more to protect Palestinian civilians. Many Republicans condemn any lessening of military backing to Israel. The package being sent includes about $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the congressional aides said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public. There was no immediate indication when the arms would be sent. It’s not clear if this shipment is part of the long-delayed foreign aid package that Congress passed and Biden signed last month, a tranche from existing arms sale or a new sale. The Wall Street Journal first reported the plans to move the package. House Republicans were planning this week to advance a bill to mandate the delivery of offensive weaponry for Israel. Following Biden’s move to put a pause on bomb shipments last week, Republicans have been swift in their condemnation, arguing it represents the abandonment of the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East. The White House said Tuesday that Biden would veto the bill if it were to pass Congress. The bill also has practically no chance in the Democratic- controlled Senate. But House Democrats are somewhat divided on the issue, and roughly two dozen have signed onto a letter to the Biden administration saying they were “deeply concerned about the message” sent by pausing the bomb shipment. One of the letter’s signers, New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, said he would likely vote for the bill, despite the White House’s opposition. “I have a general rule of supporting pro-Israel legislation unless it includes a poison pill — like cuts to domestic policy,” he said. In addition to the written veto threat, the White House has been in touch with various lawmakers and congressional aides about the legislation, according to an administration official. “We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the President’s ability to deploy U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives,” White House press secretary Karine Jean- Pierre said this week, adding that the administration plans to spend “every last cent” appropriated by Congress in the national security supplemental package that was signed into law by Biden last month. ___ Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro contribute |
54279
From: kay.so.or, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Biden sending $1 Billion more in weapons, ammo to continue...
| i sure am not voting for him nor the orange one, am doing a write in, but how many people are writing to their congress men and women, the president, etc to object to what biden is sending them in arms, etc?this is such hypocrisy for the israelites to do this after they went through, the holocaust, will god or someone else rain down fire in israel? |
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54285
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Biden sending $1 Billion more in weapons, ammo to continue...
| same here. If Jill stein or Cornell west are on the ballot, I'll pick one of them. |
Responses:
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54269
From: chatillon, [DNS_Address]
Subject: CURSES!(NT)
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54276
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Biden is greenlighting Netanyahu's full-scale invasion of Rafah(NT)
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54271
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: but wait, there's more... US gives Israel $1.2B for giant laser beam
URL: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-gaza-war-2668152608/
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The US gives Israel $1.2B for giant laser beam weapon The new 'defensive' technology, unsurprisingly, could go horribly wrong in practice MAY 06, 2024 In the midst of Israel’s destructive campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 34,000 people to date, Congress recently approved a $15 billion U.S. military aid package to Israel. Providing funds towards artillery and munitions development, replenishing defense systems, and Gaza aid, the package also includes $1.2 billion towards Israel’s sci-fiesque “Iron Beam” laser weapon, a prospective directed energy system for air defense. Once operational, Iron Beam’s systems appear slated to revolutionize Israel’s defense capacities, escalate the ongoing crisis in Gaza and already boiling tensions in the Middle East, and normalize lasers’ use in warfare as efforts towards directed energy weapons (DEWs) intensify. What’s more, the U.S. seems interested in procuring Iron Beam and adjacent technologies to its own ends, perhaps facilitating DEWs’ further future proliferation. What is Iron Beam? A prospective successor to Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system, which launches missiles to intercept and shoot down incoming threats within Israeli borders, Iron Beam is a directed energy system that neutralizes or brings down incoming projectiles with a fiber laser. While Israel claims Iron Dome eliminates 90% of incoming threats, the system’s weakness is its higher costs, where a single interceptor missile costs about $50,000. In contrast, Iron Beam would produce similar results without costly artillery, running solely on electricity to produce laser beams that have destroyed tanks, rockets, drones, and other targets in tests. "[Iron Beam] is a game-changer because we cannot only strike the enemy militarily but also weaken it economically," former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett remarked back in 2022, explaining that with Iron Beam, “[Israel’s adversaries can] invest tens of thousands of dollars in a rocket and we can invest two dollars to cover the cost of the electricity in shooting down the rocket." Bad weather can blunt the system’s effectiveness, however, which means Iron Beam is perhaps best used in tandem with the Iron Dome system for comprehensive air defense. A growing interest in Directed Energy Weapons Israel’s Iron Beam is a manifestation of governments’ decades-long interest in DEWs, systems that can convert chemical or electrical energy into radiated energy that can be focused to damage, destroy or neutralize adversarial targets. Operating at rapid speeds, directed energy weapons such as lasers, high-power microwaves, and particle beam weapons are crafted to discreetly, quickly, and precisely hit targets without artillery. Aware of their potential, a number of countries are developing DEWs. The UK recently tested its “DragonFire” laser weapon, which reportedly can hit a coin from a kilometer away. And Russia’s Peresvet laser system, designed to disable or “blind” high-altitude spacecraft, like satellites, and the Zadira laser system, which can shoot down drones, further, are being tested on Ukraine’s battlefields. Likewise, the U.S. spends about $1 billion annually to develop laser and adjacent directed energy weaponry. Notably, the U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is overseeing an Indirect Fire Protection Capability-High Energy Laser prototype program, awarding Lockheed Martin with a contract for the project in October 2023. Once operational, the laser is designed to counter or neutralize rockets, artillery, mortars and other projectiles hostile to warfighters in tandem with a military’s other defense components. Ultimately, DEWs offer a cheap, accurate solution for militaries looking to counter drones and other aerial threats. But their destructive capacities, where Iron Beam’s lasers are able to neutralize and destroy many projectiles with a simple laser fire, are clear and contribute to an ever more perilous future for warfare. Military aid to Israel accelerates DEW proliferation Iron Beam’s pending operationality, whose deployment is reportedly being expedited by manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, poses heightened dangers within the context of Israel’s ongoing destruction of the Gaza Strip. Although Iron Beam was created for defensive purposes, Israel could plausibly repurpose its lasers as offensive purposes. Indeed, Israel has previously utilized other controversial and experimental weapons systems in Gaza, such as its new AI-powered Gospel and Lavender systems for military targeting. Meanwhile, just as the U.S. had purchased batteries for Israel’s Iron Dome in the past (after October 7, it leased the two Iron Dome missile systems it purchased back to Israel), the U.S. is considering procuring Iron Beam for itself, suggesting that U.S. military aid to Israel is not only about assisting an ally, but also about expanding and upping U.S. military capacities. Ultimately, U.S. military aid to Israel enables and exacerbates its campaign against the Palestinian people while fueling prospects for greater conflict in the region. When applied towards projects like Iron Beam, moreover, such funds assist the introduction and normalization of consequential and destructive weapons systems within military contexts without substantive public debate. |
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54268
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: "the pause is over folks, forget about it" says the sociopathic Prez
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