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Proposed 2027 law will fuse U.S. and Israeli military
To The Reader's Forum:
Every year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) presents its wish list of monies for the coming year. Lobbyists for the "defense industry" submit a massive document -- over a thousand pages -- that very few read in its entirety. In general, Congress subsequently enacts the laws granting upwards of one-and-a-half trillion dollars for the "military industrial complex."
The NDAA for 2027, released May 13, contains a proposal – section 224 in the House bill – that will virtually merge the U.S. military with the Israeli military. The proposed legislation, titled the United States-Israel Technology Cooperation Initiative, calls for "bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements" and every manner of U.S.-military cooperation.
While the U.S. and Israel already work together on missile defense, surveillance and intelligence systems, the provision would expand every area of defense tech, including AI, directed energy, and biotechnology. The U.S. is the number one arms dealer in the world. Historically, the U.S. has worked closely with NATO via the Defense Production Action Plan but has never fused its relationship with the buyer of its weapons.
To date, the only opposition in Congress to the proposed merger comes from congressmen Ro Khanna (D – California) and Thomas Massie (R – Kentucky). "If the provision in the NDAA to integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries (section 224) makes it out of committee, I'll offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor," Massie stated. But the Kentucky congressman lost his bid for reelection last month and will no longer be in Congress after January 2027.
Though there is heightened opposition in the U.S. to Israel's agenda in the Middle East, the proposed merger is likely to be embraced by legislators and others who see enormous employment opportunities in new Israeli-U.S. arms co-production facilities like those operational in Mississippi and Arkansas. Bipartisan support for Israel in the Middle East – is the consequence of the Israel Lobby's generous funding of both Republic and Democrat lawmakers -- and could ensure the passage of the military integration act. Further, it may be the case that those who oppose the merger will fear being branded as anti-semitic.
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has been the recipient of over $300 billion in U.S. military assistance. The proposed merger constitutes a major shift from loans and donations to actual integration.
Roy Harvey
Mayville
Trump today is worse than ever
To The Reader's Forum:
It has been some time since I wrote a Letter to the Editor of the P-J. Since then, I have become a grandparent for the fourth time! I have also been watching TV and reading and have decided that other people have far better ideas than me. One such person is Malcom Nance who wrote "The Plot To Destroy Democracy" during the first Trump administration, well before it ended, and was published in June 2018.
The book is documented with footnotes throughout and Malcolm has an uncanny ability to foreshadow current events of the second Trump administration some eight years later! The main characters in the real-life struggle are Vladimir Putin and Donald J. Trump.
Nance foreshadowed in June 2018, “This amazing turn away from American democracy, while maintaining...the democratic legacy is astounding...So blinded by the Trump-Russian information stream [voters] think American patriotism is now defined by embracing the beliefs of a rich ex-Communist KGB officer [Putin] and a con man [Trump] who defrauded every blue-collar worker who ever laid eyes on him." (Example: Trump University) The fact that Putin cajoles Trump is additional evidence!
Nance spends much of his time explaining how the Russians use propaganda as their main weapon, especially going after the likes of Trump and others like him who know nothing about governing a large, diverse country. Nance quotes Nikita Khrushchev, "Just as a soldier cannot fight without ammunition, the party cannot conduct a war without print. Print was our main ideological weapon..." The same concept holds true today!
Nance correctly quotes MS NOW's Joe Scarborough in 2018, "…the framers of the Constitution foresaw the possibility of a tyrannical president, they never let their imaginations be darkened by the possibility of a compliant Congress." Ring a bell? Nance further states, "…the system was not designed to handle this level of corruption from two of the three branches of government."
What about when all three of the branches of government, controlled by Republicans, give a president substantial power? Except for the writings of lower courts, the president might still be able to create monuments to himself. He has substantially bulldozed much of the White House unilaterally! Nance concludes, "No matter what happens to Donald Trump...we are confronted by a party that no longer believes in the democracy that was formed by the founding fathers."
Nance tells us that we are the solution, but we must vote – "We are in an existential fight for our nation's soul."
Paul L. Demler
Jamestown
At home and abroad – united we stand, divided we fall
To The Reader's Forum:
As a youngster, I was fascinated by "Aesop's Fables." One story was about an old man with three sons who were always fighting.
One day, he called them together to teach them a lesson. One by one, he gave each of his sons a bundle of sticks and asked them to try to break the bundle. They each tried their best but not one of them could do so.
The old man then took the bundle of sticks, removed a few from the bundle, and gave each of his sons a stick. He asked each of his sons to break the stick, which they did with ease.
The old man then addressed his sons with these wise words,
"My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle of sticks, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."
From this fable, and his recent failed, unilateral declaration of war against Iran, our president should learn what I learned as a child. We cannot "go it alone."
To remain a Superpower, we as a nation must be allied with other nations of the world, to stand in unison for what is morally right against the bigotry and hatred of violent, oppressive regimes in today's world.
Maurice F. Baggiano,
Jamestown
published legal author, former adjunct faculty member at Gannon University (Erie, PA) and the Rochester Institute of Technology, member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.