The Soul of Our Nation: War

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/29-8



US guided-missile destroyer USS Barry French anti-submarine frigate Jean de Vienne during an exercise. The Barry carries Tomahawk land-attack missiles and is on its way to the eastern Mediterranean for a possible strike on Syrian military targets.

The Soul of Our Nation: War
by Bruce Gagnon
Published on Thursday, August 29, 2013 by Common Dreams

The US has been providing Egypt with nearly $2 billion a year in "aid" since 1979. Most of this is military aid. That "aid" is then used to buy weapons from American corporations. So in reality most of US foreign aid becomes more welfare programs for the military industrial complex.

Because of current civil war conditions in Egypt the Obama team is having to hold off on providing more aid to that embattled nation. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 51% of respondents said it's better to cut off military assistance to Egypt, while 26% backed continued aid.

The "aid" now on temporary hold would include: F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin; M1A1 tanks from General Dynamics; and Apache attack helicopters made by Boeing Co.

CBS News reported on August 20: "The billion dollars in aid Congress approved for Egypt does not go directly to Cairo, it goes to places such as Archbald, Pennsylvania. The General Dynamics factory there makes parts for the M1A1 tank. General Dynamics is filling an order for 125 tank kits for the Egyptian Army. One-hundred-thirty people work at the Archbald facility."