How about cutting in half what we give to Egypt every year...

[Boojatta]

and distributing the savings to Nicaragua, Vietnam, and Cuba?

Then the government of Egypt might have to economize by ceasing to broadcast stuff like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Does Nicaragua, Vietnam, or Cuba use state TV to broadcast ethnic slander?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. How about cutting in half what we give away to everybody, every year?

So much good could be done right here at home!

:hi:

[Boojatta]

2. Yeah, but people would say that we're being selfish S.O.B.s...

and a flame war would break out. I'm trying to start a discussion, not a meltdown. After all, this is GD, right?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Damn right this is GD, lol!

:hi:

[Boojatta]

4. Also, we did sting Vietnam with a beehive of young American men...

when the conflict in Vietnam was more about ending foreign domination of Vietnam by French or other foreign powers than it was about a domino falling in favor of communism in the Cold War.

According to Chomsky, we helped our S.O.B. rebels hit "soft targets" in Nicaragua, which is to say that we enabled terrorism in Nicaragua.

Our government guaranteed accelerated maturation to a generation of young American men who were conscripted to serve in Vietnam. Our government spent a lot of money to teach a tough love military lesson to people of Vietnam and Nicaragua. Not to mention the Bay of Pigs fiasco and some assassination attempts against Castro. Maybe our government should try practicing a bit of benign neglect, considering what the alternative to benign neglect has sometimes been.

[Make7]

10. Could you clarify something you said?

 

Boojatta wrote:

... we did sting Vietnam with a beehive of young American men... when the conflict in Vietnam was more about ending foreign domination of Vietnam by French or other foreign powers than it was about a domino falling in favor of communism in the Cold War.

Are you saying the United States was involved in Vietnam primarily to end French involvement in Vietnam?
 

[Boojatta]

11. No, I mean that Vietnamese were ready to fight for independence.

Unless I'm mistaken, they had a long history of being dominated by foreign powers. Had Vietnamese succeeded in achieving independence before 1917, then perhaps some complications could have been avoided, specifically the complication of communist power in Vietnam, and the complication of cold war politics.

[Make7]

12. OK, thanks.

The way you initially phrased it had me somewhat confused because the motivations of the opposing sides were combined into a single statement.

I don't really think a country wanting to be communist is a complication - people have a right to organize their economy and also their government how they want. If the United States would have supported the independence of Vietnam at the end of World War Two, perhaps the country wouldn't have got caught up in the Cold War. Or perhaps if Karl Marx had never been born it could have all been avoided.

In my opinion, America's track record for respecting the independence of other countries is less than stellar.
 

[Obamanaut]

14. I agree with this one. There are homeless, hungry, sick folks right

here who could use the help.

There are bridges, roads, and dams that need repair.

But none of the savings could be used for pay raises for politicians or CEOs, or for bailouts for companies/banks. ETA or weapons

[dipsydoodle]

5. To give it to Cuba

they'd need to convert it into Euros first. :rofl:

[Boojatta]

6. Buying the Euro would put some upward pressure on the price of a Euro relative to other currencies.

Now is a good time for that with the financial crisis in Greece.

[Cleita]

7. That would make too much sense. n/t

[Gaedel]

8. Level of aid to Israel and Egypt

I was under the impression that the amount was a fixed figure agreed to by Pres Carter as an inducement to the two countries to agree to the Camp David Accords.

[Boojatta]

9. What if it had been LBJ rather than Carter?

What if it had been Truman rather than Carter?

What if it had been Ulysses S. Grant rather than Carter?

Can't we decide that something like this is no longer appropriate?

[Violet_Crumble]

13. How about cutting what you give to Israel every year...

After all, Israel is the recipient of the most US aid. Then the govt of Israel might have to economise by ceasing to kill Palestinian civilians and stop using US equipment to kill US citizens who are protesting the Occupation...

Or is what's on telly more important to you than the killing of thousands of people?

[ThomWV]

15. When you consider that policy change you have to ask yourself: What Would Jesus Do?

[Boojatta]

16. What's on TV seems to have influence because...

you wrote:

to kill Palestinian civilians and stop using US equipment to kill US citizens who are protesting the Occupation...

I suspect that TV influenced you to attach special importance to events that you attempted to allude to above.

Did you know that a number of countries conspired to attack Israel when it first came into existence? It is said that some people were warned, before the attack on the nascent state of Israel, to get away to safe places. Perhaps we could get permission to start a thread in the Israel/Palestine forum here on DU to discuss how credible you think that allegation is. We would need permission because normally a thread in I/P cannot be created unless it's based on a recent news story or OP ed.

The attack on what was the newly established nation-state Israel was an attack on a whole country. It wasn't an attack on a couple of buildings. Coincidentally, TV broadcasts authorized and paid for by the government of Egypt claim that Israelis and/or Jews were warned to get out of the WTC before its destruction on September 11, 2001. We can create a thread in the September 11 forum here at DU to discuss the question of how credible you think that allegation from Egyptian TV is.

There's an interesting parallel there, isn't there?

[Violet_Crumble]

17. So you do think what's on telly's more important than the killing of thousands of people?

I very strongly disagree with you and find it more than a bit disturbing that you appear to think that way...

[Boojatta]

18. Correct me if I'm wrong: isn't there a connection between TV content and killing?

For example, before the latest war in Iraq, didn't some government officials use TV broadcasts to insinuate into the minds of millions of Americans that there was a close connection between the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the government of Iraq?

[Boojatta]

21. Did it occur to you that some Jews of Egyptian descent who are now Israeli citizens

are unlikely to go back to Egypt because it is unsafe for them to be in Egypt, and that it's unsafe partly because of what is broadcast by the government of Egypt on Egyptian TV?

Didn't someone recently recommend (the recommendation broadcast on TV ... there's that telly again!) that Jews "go back" to various countries such as Poland, Germany, Vatican City, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt?

[JI7]

19. there is a reason Egypt and Israel have not had as many problems as others in that area

we should maybe pay off the others also ?

[JI7]

20. there is a reason Egypt and Israel have not had as many problems as others in that area

we should maybe pay off the others also ?

[azureblue]

22. Israel first

They have free education, a better education system, and free health care. Cut aid to Isreal until the citizens of America have those benefits. American citizens should come first, and this country is running a serious deficit.

[Catherina]

23. Cut off every single penny to both Israel and Egypt. n/t

[Boojatta]

24. Kick

[Daninmo]

25. I think

It is time to cut off all money to foreign countries. After all we are broke, have a huge national debt in the trillions, and are borrowing money just to pay our own bills. We have so many out of work and needy people right here in our own country. Let the other countries borrow money from China or whomever.

I think we also should scale back our military and let the other countries spend there own money not our protecting their own countries, build their own nations.

[Boojatta]

26. Kick

[JCMach1]

27. Egypt as a failed-state would be a disaster.... Have said that Mubarak is on his last legs

:(

[Boojatta]

28. If money is tight, they could sell the pyramids to Walmart.

Finally, Walmart would be selling a product that wasn't made in China.

[Boojatta]

29. Kick

[Boojatta]

30. Kick to encourage comments, especially explanations of why you oppose the proposal.

[XemaSab]

31. How about cutting in half what we spend on ICBMs and other bullshit every year

and spending it on education EVERYWHERE? :shrug:

[Boojatta]

32. Kick

[howaboutme]

33. NEEDED: Option on Income Tax form that addresses foreign aid

I want a check box option (or boxes) on my IRS 1040 that addresses if I want my tax dollars spent on America instead of going to Israel and Egypt and other countries. If Congress doesn't have the guts to do this themselves, then let it up to the people. While Americans are doing without, we are handing out billions upon billions to other nations. I've had enough of it.