A Lecture to Strait Gate Ecclesia, 2/8/11
By Charles E. Carlson
Good evening brothers and followers of Jesus\’ teaching.
The standoff in the streets of Cairo, Egypt has stimulated press coverage of issues rarely revealed to us. For the first time, Americans – even those who view Fox News – have learned undisputed facts, including these:
(1) The Mubarak Regime is a dictatorship backed by both the US and Israel. Mubarak consistently sides with Israel, even against the Gazan Arabs. He has repeatedly denied or severely restricted passage of aid convoys across its land into Gaza.
(2) US military aid has kept Mubarak in power for 30 years.
(3) Mubarak\’s chief of security, Omar Suleiman (now Egypt\’s Vice President), tortured prisoners for the US before "water-boarding" became a "legal" practice at Guantanamo.
(4) The Egyptians’ revolt was triggered by high food prices in a region where poverty is endemic.
The Arab people there are displaying bravery in the face of possible overwhelming force. Americans, especially Christ followers, should be asking why it is the policy of the world\’s great democracy, bridging five presidents from both parties, to use our American dollars to support some of the world\’s most brutal dictators. Professing Christians should recognize and renounce their own tacit support for those who ignore the God-given right to life of all men.
The 2011 Statistical Abstract of the US Census Bureau, "Foreign and Military Aid," reveals that the US government supports dictators, including President Mubarak and also supports revolutionary movements against legitimate governments. The largest recipient states, in order of money received, are Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and Sudan. All have unelected governments, or leaders elected by questionable elections. Palestine received only a small amount of humanitarian aid, though its 2008 election was freer and more similar to our own process than any of the others.
Our issue today is how US money is used to rig other people\’s elections. The 2008 Census Bureau reported an amazing $6.0 billion in military aid to Afghanistan and $4.4 billion in aid to Iraq. Both countries were conquered by the US and have held elections run by the occupier, resulting in US puppet presidents. Israel received $2.4 billion, by far the most per capita, about $500 for each. Egypt received $1.5 billion, about $21 per capita, enough to maintain armed soldiers at every tourist site and many street corners, as you will see if you go there. "Gaza and the West Bank" are listed as receiving $570 million in non-military aid, but all of this goes to the unelected government, the Palestine Authority and Fat-ah, both of which were rejected by voters in 2008, in favor of democratically elected Hamas, which receives no aid at all. Neighboring Jordan received a much smaller $530 million, most likely an incentive to get along with Israel.
The Census Bureau reveals that the US craftily funds revolutions in countries that do not get along with the state of Israel, including Sudan. US support of revolution in Sudan is an especially abusive case of using our money against humanitarian interests. Sudan\’s Omar El Bashir-led government has been under sanction by the US since 2005 or before, so it could not possibly receive the military aid. It is considered an enemy of Israel. Yet "Sudan" is listed on the census report as receiving $199 million in military aid from the US in 2008…how can this be?
Those dollars, tanks, and guns were, in fact, delivered to the unelected Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel operation in Southern Sudan – a faction working to overthrow the once-elected President, Omar El Bashir. Our government used the pressured of these guns and tanks plus sanctions against Sudan to intimidate the El Bashir government. Intimidated it to do what? Intimidaated it to allow Southern Sudan to separate itself, taking with it much of the petroleum Sudan had developed jointly with China. An analogy might be for Russia to militarily intimidate President Obama to allow Alaska and the mineral rich western states all the way to the Missouri River to withdraw from the United States.
Every dollar of US foreign aid is printed out of thin air, most of it ending in the pockets of US military contractors, all paid for by diluting Americans’ savings, and inevitably resulting in higher priced food and fuel worldwide. It is these high food prices that finally triggered revolt in Egypt.
The documented history of US foreign military aid tells the story truthfully, when our press and politicians tell us only what they want us to hear. We can expect the US, with Israel in the background, to use the pressure of foreign aid to attempt to broker the status quo in Egypt, denying Egyptians the freedom for which they are struggling. It is all done in the interest of Israel.
It is up to us, as Followers of Christ, to stop this abuse of power. Our germ of hope is found in the certainty that American complacency is ending in the mushroom cloud of our war-based economic dilemma, which will be our topic when I speak to you next week.
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