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Egypt and the US deficit

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  • Egypt and the US deficit

    Forgive me in advance if this comes off as too remedial but as I was reading an article about the issues in Egypt, I came across this.

    The US gives $1.5 billion in annual military and economic aid to Egypt. That sum is second only to America's annual grant to Israel, a practice that dates to the 1979 peace treaty the U.S. brokered between the two neighbors.

    I am all for us trying to help other countries in the name of peace and solidarity but only after we are able to clean up our major issues here in the US and if we are giving over 3 billion just to Egypt and Israel, I wonder how much we give other countries in total and would think we need to balnce our own budgets first before dumping all that money to other countries.

    Am I being too naive or simplistic here?
    After former Broncos quarterback Brian Griese sprained his ankle and said he was tripped on the stairs of his home by his golden retriever, Bella: “The dog stood up on his hind legs and gave him a push? You might want to get rid of that dog, or put him in the circus, one of the two.”

  • #2
    Look at the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and then consider what other wars we'd have been involved with in the Middle East had Camp David come to pass; hell, the 1973 war almost led to a shooting war with the Soviets. Of all the things we can buy with our money relative stability is one of the most important. The aid to Egypt has been a bargain. The aid to Israel has been excessive but still made sense on a few levels. Don't forget, as well, just how much of that number is taken up with keeping and creating US jobs-- LockheedMartin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, SRA, SAIC, GE, Raytheon, Intel, IBM, Halliburton and a host of other American companies are major end recipients of that aid money.
    "There is involved in this struggle the question whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we have enjoyed. I say this in order to impress upon you, if you are not already so impressed, that no small matter should divert us from our great purpose. "

    Abraham Lincoln, from his Address to the Ohio One Hundred Sixty Fourth Volunteer Infantry

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    • #3
      And to be honest, all of our foreign aid put together doesn't amount to a relative hill of beans. On the other hand, I agree with your underlying point that all of this needs to be on the table.
      “Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”
      -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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      • #4
        Originally posted by eldiablo505
        US sponsorship of foreign dictators is an extremely appropriate place to look carefully at when considering budget cuts. It is tough, though, because what might come out of actual, real democracy could be something much less friendly to United States' interests. Stuff like that can happen when you give people the right to vote.
        Yep, real democracy can be quite the double-edged sword. There are a lot of fraught big picture questions about when, where and to what degree international or regional powers or the international community (through such organizations or associations as the UN, the World Bank, NATO, etc) should attempt to influence either the form of governance or the specific leadership of a sovereign nation, let alone the extent to which different geographic, ethnic or religious or groups within a sovereign nation (whose sovereign borders may or may not make much historical or sociological sense), should be entitled to self-determination.

        As for the Middle East, does the international community (or alternatively, the US as a global superpower), have good reason to "meddle" economically, politically or militarily to advance what would appear to be in the best interests of global or regional stability, even if it may run counter to true democracy or self-determination? How much does the answer to that question hinge on what threat a populist democratic government might be expected to, say, persecute women or minorities? Engage in aggressive military action against other nations?

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Bob Kohm View Post
          Look at the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and then consider what other wars we'd have been involved with in the Middle East had Camp David come to pass; hell, the 1973 war almost led to a shooting war with the Soviets. Of all the things we can buy with our money relative stability is one of the most important. The aid to Egypt has been a bargain. The aid to Israel has been excessive but still made sense on a few levels. Don't forget, as well, just how much of that number is taken up with keeping and creating US jobs-- LockheedMartin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, SRA, SAIC, GE, Raytheon, Intel, IBM, Halliburton and a host of other American companies are major end recipients of that aid money.
          Bob is right here. Some of the work some of my friends here have worked on does have to do with the Israelis.
          Bob- I'm not exactly sure it would ROCK as you say it Byron.. it may be cool, by typical text book descriptions. Your opinion of this is shallow and poorly constructed, but allow me to re-craft your initial thought into something tangable.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Bob Kohm View Post
            Look at the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and then consider what other wars we'd have been involved with in the Middle East had Camp David come to pass; hell, the 1973 war almost led to a shooting war with the Soviets.
            Not to mention Israel using nuclear weapons on Syria...

            OTOH, times have changed significantly in the last 30-odd years. In the 70s and 80s, Israel needed the aid we provided simply to assure their safety/stability against what were still extremely dangerous and well-armed enemies. Moreover, Israel was in the very early phases of economic development. Today, that's not the case vis a vis Israel. I'm as strong of a proponent of Israel that you'll find, but their need for the $1+ billion supplied simply isn't true anymore.

            Egypt will prove to be a damnably difficult situation. Let's assume Mubarek goes, real, verifiable elections are held, and the Brotherhood wins the elections in a dominant fashion. Do we continue funding an entity that has the storied terror history that they have? Or, let's assume Mubarek rides this out and holds power through force. Do we continue funding a person that becomes a sign of Middle East wide hate?
            I'm just here for the baseball.

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