Apache Helicopter & Hellfire Missile Blues | Philip A. Farruggio

[Tace]

Last edited Sun Mar 22, 2015, 05:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Philip A. Farruggio -- World News Trust

March 22, 2015

Investigative reporter Chris Woods wrote that since August of last year there have been more than 2,900 missile strikes by manned and unmanned aircraft... mostly perpetrated by our country.

To those out there who do not do the research, the Hellfire missile systems bought by you and me cost us more than $4 billion for the Predator MQ- 1C Gray Eagle and $11.79 billion for the MQ9 Reaper. Countless unarmed children, women and the elderly have been blown away through the infamous "Collateral Damage" of these attacks.

Who cares? Can that be what helped the crazies running ISIL to recruit more and more fighters? Or can it also be that the fact that one of the world's most terrorist states (besides us of course), Israel, got $3.1 billion in military aid from Uncle Sam last year? (More than $120 billion total U.S. aid since 1949.)

Each Hellfire missile that our drones and those of our allies, the Brits, fire down into the Middle East cost you and me $60,000-$70,000. Multiply that by a few thousand and see the price then. That seems like peanuts when we spend more than $50 million for one Boeing Apache helicopter.

more

http://worldnewstrust.com/apache-helicopter-hellfire-missile-blues-philip-a-farruggio

[whereisjustice]

1. Obama's drone policy is as idiotic as Bush's war policy. Both conspire as recruiting tools. On the

other hand, defense contractors love our drone policy. Perpetual war. It's like a tree that grows money.

[caraher]

2. The article is sloppy on details unfortunately

It's flat-out false that Israel received $100 billion in military aid last year - that's the all-time total of US military aid, according to Haaretz:

Since it began in 1962, American military aid to Israel has amounted to nearly $100 billion. For the past decades the United States has been regularly transferring aid of about $3 billion annually. In recent years, the aid has been solely for defense purposes. Additionally, the U.S. has been giving Israel generous military aid for projects that are important both to it and to Israel.

I agree overall with his point - we are spending lavish sums to make ourselves less safe.

[Tace]

3. caraher: Thanks for pointing out the inaccuracy.

I've corrected the figure in Phil's story and in the DU post. --Tace

[caraher]

4. Glad to see it fixed - thanks! <nt>