US president says Washington will increase military aid to Israel for development of anti-missile systems and tunnel detection technologies; in letter to Congressman, Obama insists he will respond firmly if Iran fails to meet commitments.
US President Barack Obama has committed in writing to increase American military aid to Israel for the development of anti-missile systems, as well as to accelerate cooperation on the development of tunnel detection technologies.
“Our governments should identify ways to accelerate the ongoing collaborative research and development for tunnel detection and mapping technologies to provide Israel new capabilities to detect and destroy tunnels because they could be used to threaten Israeli civilians,” Obama said in a letter dated August 19, published in full by the New York Times on Friday, to Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat in the House of Representatives who announced that he will vote to approve the accord.
In the letter, Obama promises to increase cooperation with Israel and with the United States’ allies in the Gulf in the fight against Iran’s efforts to destabilize the region by supporting the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“My administration is prepared to enhance the already intensive joint efforts underway to identify and counter the range of shared threats we face in the region, as well as increase missile defense funding so that Israel and the United States can accelerate the co-development of the Arrow-3 and David’s Sling missile defense systems,” he writes.
He also notes that he has “proposed to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we begin a process aimed at further strengthening our efforts to confront conventional and asymmetric threats.”
The American president further states his administration intends to continue talks with Israel on a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding on foreign military financing that “would cement for the next decade our unprecedented levels of military assistance.”
On top of receiving over $20.5 billion in foreign military financing since 2009, Israel is due to receive another $3.1 billion installment of foreign military aid from the US, Obama states.
He notes his administration invested an additional #3 billion in Iron Dome, as well as other missile-defense systems.
The president keeps detailing American military assistance to Israel, saying Israel has been provided with “unparalleled access to some of the most advanced military equipment in the world, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which will be delivered in 2016.” Israel, Obama says, is the only Middle East nation to which the US has sold the fifth-generation aircraft.
“More recently, I authorized an unprecedented $1.879 billion multi-year munitions resupply package that will provide Israel continued access to state-of-the-art precision-guided munitions, including penetrating munitions (the BLU-113 super penetrator), Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits, and air-to-air missiles, all of which will give the Israel government access to the most sophisticated arsenal for years to come,” Obama adds. “I also have offered Israel the V-22 Osprey – a hallmark US air platform – which the Israeli government has chosen not to procure at this time.”
Military option to remain available
The letter mostly aims to assuage concerns by senators and congressmen about the deal aimed to curb its nuclear program, and to that end Obama vows the United States will respond firmly if Iran fails to honor the accord.
“We have a wide array of unilateral and multilateral responses that we can employ if Iran fails to meets its commitments,” Obama said.
Obama reiterated his view that the accord reached last month in Vienna is good for the United States, Israel and the Middle East in general.
The president also insisted, as he has many times, that all options remain on the table if Iran does not abide by the accord.
The agreement lifts economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions and other measures designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
“All of the options available to the United States – including the military option – will remain available through the life of the deal and beyond,” Obama said.
Obama also promises to use a multinational commission policing the accord to block Iranian procurement of nuclear-related technology.
The letter was released as opponents of the accord wage a fierce campaign against it ahead of a vote in Congress in September.
Opponents say the accord goes too easy on Iran, by not allowing spot inspections of nuclear sites or forcing it to halt support of militant groups, for instance.
So far only two Democratic senators – Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez – have come out publicly against the accord.
According to a Reuters tally, Obama is eight votes away from capturing one-third of the Senate, or 34 senators, with about a month remaining to find the additional support he needs.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, which is tracking lawmakers’ positions, said on Thursday that 69 House members now support the Iran deal, with another 140 in the 435-member chamber still undeclared. Obama would need the support of at least 146 House members to safeguard the agreement in that chamber.
In days ahead, much attention will focus on senators Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, both senior Democrats from Maryland who have not yet staked out a position.
It is unlikely that opponents can muster the two-thirds majority they would to override a certain Obama veto if an initial vote by lawmakers rejects the accord.
Nadler said Friday he supports it.
It is not perfect, but it “gives us the best chance of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon,” he said in a statement.
Nadler said he had reached this conclusion from his perspective as “an American Jew who is both a Democrat and a strong supporter of Israel.”
The accord, vehemently opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has sharply divided the US Jewish community.
Obama has promised compensation (inadequate once hukes start falling) to Israel, but what about his compensation to future generations of Americans (USA AND Canada) once Iran has long-range missals and nukes for their warheads and Jidhadists still running their government?
Air traffic controllers go through an intensive and thorough selection process and an excellent and thorough training program. But the following is an excerpt from a news broadcast, after a light plane crash landed on Long Island Railroad tracks.
Joseph Milo was the type of person that everyone loved because he cared about everyone he came across…
The 59 year old was flying his plane from Westhampton Beach to New Jersey Sunday morning when around Bethpage he reported to air traffic control that he was experiencing difficulty maintaining altitude.
The controller at LaGuardia Airport responded, “There’s a strip right about your 12 o clock and 3 miles. It’s the Bethpage strip right there. And again Farmingdale about 10 o clock and 6.”
However there hasn’t been a landing strip in Bethpage for years.
Obama does not believe that the theology of Islamic Fundamentalism exists. He has stated that he expects Iran to be a stabilizing force in the Middle East. But the mentality of the Ayatollas that run Iran is identical in every respect to the terrorists that flew the planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Their comments to their own people prove this. So any country taking advice or following the leadership of Obama will be on its way to the fate of Joseph Milo. The “agreement” can easily allow the bomb to proceed secretly.
Sure, by-and-large, Islam was a religion of Peace and tolerance. After driving out the Crusaders, the Arabs invited 70 Jewish families to return to Jerusalem and specific Convents and Monasteries were allowed to continue to function. The Caliph of Jerusalem came to the Jaffa dock to welcome refugees from Torquamada’s Spain, and the Turks gave Jews permission to pray at the Western Wall, as well as having Holy Land Jewish representation in their parliament.
But in 14 years the Mufti appointed by the British changed all that. Obama acts as if he did not. (There remain pockets of traditional Islam. I would never accuse the Kings of Morocco and Jordan to be Islamic Fundamentalists, and there are ex-Soviet Islamic states with relations with Israel.)
Dave Klepper, student, Yeshivat Beit Orot, Jerusalem, US Army veeteran, co-author Worship Space Acoustics, http://www.JRossPub.com
Unfortunately, wooly, the aid comes with strings attached. It is like the pusher handing out “free” drugs. The quid pro quo is that Israel gets American goodies, and America gets a vassal state. The Israelis are burdened by countless restrictions imposed by the United States, especially regarding arms sales to third parties.
Time to forswear aid and live free.
@ babushka:No, Take the aid AND let them drop dead thereafter and they will. Jimmy Carter is on deck.
Interesting that if Barak is to be believed, NETANYAHU was in favor of striking Iran and it was y’alon and steinwitch who vetoed. But, why are they still in the government in appointed positions, a rhetorical question. In any case, NETANYAHU is the responsible party and he had better take care of business, damn it. No more frigging excuses, because you have long since used them up ad absurdum.
“We have arranged to have you nuked. Here are some compensatory trinkets.”
“No, thank you. Please drop dead.”
This is the ideal time for Israel to change course. Tell Barry to take his reparations and shove them. Start merchandising Israeli military technology on the world market unconstrained by American interests. Achieve financial (and more importantly psychological) independence from the United States. Do whatever it takes to neutralize Iran. Be free of the chains that bind you to the United States. They are strangling Israel.
Iran 10 USA .0001
With the exception of Iran’s request for the USA to supply cheeseburgers to all their jihadis nuclear research workforce every Friday, Iran got everything it wanted. Iran can continue research and development of nuclear weapons including the delivery of nukes, self- inspection of the Parchin military site, 24 day notice of other sites and of course release of funds held in the amount of $100 billion+ to fund terrorist with the latest weapons that will kill Americans/Israelis. The release of four American hostages in Iran was not even discussed as it may upset the Iranian negotiating team.