Which "People" own the American Empire?

In the face of growing evidence, it is difficult to believe that the
American People are able to elect a government that has their best
interest at heart. The following article shouts loud and clear just
how controlled this government is, by the Industrial/Military Complex
which appears to have assumed command of the Empire, and places
Corporate needs far ahead of those of the American Working Class.

Carl Jarvis

***

U.S. Offers to Increase Military Aid to Israel

By JULIE IRSCHFELD DAVISJULY 1, 2016

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday told members of Congress that
it had offered to substantially sweeten a decade-long military aid
package for
Israel,
the latest turn in months of fitful negotiations that have proceeded
despite deep divisions over the Iran nuclear deal.

Under the proposed terms, the United States would insist that the
Israelis use the tens of billions of dollars they receive under the
deal to buy United
States-made goods and services, rather than spend a sizable portion in
their own country as they are permitted to do now.

The administration laid out details of the package in a lengthy letter
to senators who had written to the White House in April urging the
completion of
a new aid deal.

In the thick of the debate last year over the Iran deal, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel refused to negotiate with
President Obama
over a so-called memorandum of understanding for a military aid
package to replace one that expires in 2018.

Once the Iran deal — which lifted sanctions in exchange for
restrictions on Tehran's
nuclear program
— went into effect, negotiations on a new aid package commenced
between United States and Israeli officials. But consensus has been
elusive.

In the letter on Friday, Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama's national security
adviser, and Shaun Donovan, the director of the Office of Management
and Budget,
said that the administration was prepared to increase the existing
military aid package for Israel, worth nearly $30 billion, and sign a
new one "that
would constitute the largest pledge of military assistance to any
country in U.S. history."

That would include a new 10-year pledge to fund missile defense
systems in Israel, an arrangement now paid for in yearly installments
and subject to the
often unpredictable annual appropriations process.

Such an aid agreement "would build on the unparalleled support that
the United States has provided to Israel under President Obama," Ms.
Rice and Mr. Donovan
said. "Through word and deed, this administration has done more for
Israel's security than any other in U.S. history."

group start media
Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference on
Tuesday. CreditPool photo by Ronen Zvulun
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Mr. Obama has made it clear that completing the deal before he leaves
office is a priority, and Mr. Netanyahu has said he was eager to seal
it as well.
But challenging political dynamics have complicated the talks.

Some analysts in the United States and Israel say that Mr. Netanyahu
is calculating that he may reach a more advantageous deal with a
future president,
a charge that the Israelis strenuously deny. Others have suggested
that Mr. Obama is pressing to finish the agreement in part to insulate
himself against
accusations that he has been too tough on Israel, especially if he
decides later this year to pressure the country to accept a peace deal
with the
Palestinians
that embraces a two-state solution.

The negotiations have unfolded in secret, with neither side willing to
detail its position on an agreement that people close to the talks
have said could
top $40 billion. For months, United States and Israeli officials have
haggled over the price tag, as Israel has insisted on a higher figure
than the United
States was willing to support.

But the decision by the White House to explicitly lay out its position
on how much of the money would be spent inside Israel — an issue that
had emerged
as a sticking point — appeared to signal that a conclusion to the
talks could be near.

"The chances seem to be better now than they were a couple months ago"
that the two sides will reach a deal, said Ilan Goldenberg, the
director of the
Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American
Security. "Clearly, they're getting to the end one way or the other."

Under the existing agreement, Israel is permitted to spend about a
quarter of the military aid it receives outside the United States, and
13 percent of
it on fuel — allowances that no other recipient of United States
funding receives. Israel has spent about $1.2 billion a year — $7.9
billion since the
current deal took effect — in this way, the White House said.

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The provision originated in the 1980s as a way to spur the development
of Israel's defense industry, which is now booming. Israel has become
one of the
top 10 arms exporters in the world, competing with the United States.

In their letter, Ms. Rice and Mr. Donovan said the aid package was
being negotiated in "an especially challenging budgetary environment,"
with the possibility
that automatic across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration
could return in 2018. They said it was time to move away from the
special arrangements.

The White House also argued in the letter that the nuclear deal with
Iran — regarded by Israel as empowering a dangerous adversary bent on
its destruction
— was in fact "crucial to the security interests of the United States,
Israel and the entire international community."

"We remain cleareyed about the threat to Israel's security posed by
Iran, as well as Iran's support for terrorism, its ballistic missile
program, and its
destabilizing activity in the region," Ms. Rice and Mr. Donovan wrote.
That is "precisely why" carrying out the Iran deal is important, they
added.