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Ellen Mischinski

End American Aid to Israel?: Yes, It Does Harm :: Middle East Quarterly - 0 views

  • The economy would have collapsed in 1973 due to the balance of payments problem following the Yom Kippur War. Today it is still important to shoulder the economy from external shocks such as the Persian Gulf War and the massive flow of Russian immigrants to Israel in the past few years. If the aid were reduced or eliminated, a sharp reduction in government spending would be required. Sussman adds: "The $1.5 billion in emergency aid allocated to Israel in the mid-1980s was responsible for helping to stabilize the Israeli economy and stifle hyperinflation."6
  • In fact, American defense and aerospace firms reap substantial benefits from U.S. aid to Israel, for it guarantees them a $1.35 billion captive market each year. Out of $1.8 billion in grants, then, Israel receives about $450 million in cash that can be converted into Israeli currency and used either to purchase Israeli-made military products or develop weapons (such as the Arrow anti-missile system). Steven L. Spiegel, a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, points out that Israel performs invaluable services by testing and developing weapon systems for the United States, improving American-made equipment, and providing crucial intelligence information.11 Moreover, Spiegel argues that Israel's use of American-made arms not only saves the United States money but earns it more: For example, after Israel's much advertised successes with U.S. weaponry in the 1969-70 War of Attrition and the 1982 war in Lebanon, U.S. arms sales worldwide in 1972-82 nearly tripled, from about $6.8 to $19.6 billion in constant 1982 dollars.12 And while of course it does not wish for wars to occur, the United States gains valuable information by seeing its arms perform against those of Israel's enemies, lessons that "cannot be purchased, developed, or simulated."13
Ellen Mischinski

The Jamestown Foundation: The Chechen Reaction to the Georgian Crisis - 0 views

  • the Chechen refugees in Georgia began to disappear, which naturally alerted the Chechen Diaspora as well as refugees from Chechnya, which by then was already a sizeable group
  • unanimous support for Georgia’s actions and were convinced that Georgia’s actions were provoked by Russia (Kavkazky Uzel, August 7). Moreover, the Georgians noticed that Chechens from the Vostok battalion were the ones who saved many Georgian civilians from revenge attacks by Ossetians and Russians
  • At the time the Russian leadership’s position on South Ossetia was probably not clear to Kadyrov. When he understood what Russia’s interest was he made a new statement offering to send 10,000 Chechen fighters (Vesti.ru, August 12). Furthermore, by then he knew that his implacable foe, Sulim Yamadaev, the Vostok battalion’s commander, was among the Russian troops in South Ossetia.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • 20 young Chechen girls had joined the ranks of militants hiding in the mountains and said there were many other instances of departures by young people eager to participate in the resistance movement
  • The democratic wing of the Chechen resistance limited itself to ambiguous statements of support for Georgia based not on the principle of territorial integrity but on criticism of Russia for its hypocritical position regarding those who had been struggling for independence for close to two decades
    • Ellen Mischinski
       
      Chechens teamed up with Georgia, both don't like russia. Chechens think russia is being hypocritical recognizing SO & Abk. but not Chechnya. Young boys and girls going off to fight in resistance=violence / anti-peace/stability
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