January 26, 2007, - 3:09 pm
Giant Sucking Sound: U.S. Pledges Millions to Hezbollah . . . er, Lebanon (Intel, Cisco Help)
By Debbie Schlussel
This is what I meant when I questioned whether the President really believed his own tough new words against Hezbollah in Tuesday’s State of the Union address. The speech versus actual Bush policy is “Speak Loudly But Throw Your Stick Away and Give Them Everything They Want.”
Condi Clueless, yesterday–at the Paris Lebanon Donor’s Conference–pledged $770 million in U.S. aid to “rebuild” Lebanon. She also leaned on Intel and Cisco executives to help, too–and they quickly acquiesced.
When asked by Bloomberg News whether the money–which, Bloomberg reports, now totals $1 billion in U.S. aid to Lebanon, since this summer’s war–would be cut off if Hezbollah gained control, she responded by not responding, saying she didn’t want to discuss “hypotheticals.” She added:
This money is for all the Lebanese people. As you know Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. That has not changed.
That’s hardly convincing. Apparently, she’s saying: We think they’re terrorists, but most Lebanese don’t. So we’ll keep giving them U.S. tax moolah, regardless of what happens.
It also means hundreds of millions of your tax money and any money you give by buying Intel and Cisco products goes straight into the hands of Hezbollah. And it’s actually neither a “hypothetical” nor dependent upon whether Hezbollah controls all of Lebanon. It already controls most of the damaged areas and will get most of the money.
Most of the money we’re giving is USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) money. And as I noted, this past summer when the aid began, the money and goods America gave to Lebanon through the USAID went straight to Hezbollah to give to its people and take the credit for. At that time, FOX News Channel’s Shepard Smith asked USAID chief Randall Tobias how he could insure the aid would not go to Hezbollah, and he couldn’t give him a straight answer.
As I’ve also written, in 2000, then-U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan) and U.S. Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) (and Knollenberg’s Islamopandering then-Chief of Staff, Paul Welday) introduced and passed legislation that gave Lebanon $86 million (they sought $268 million) for rebuilding South Lebanon, after the Israelis pulled out. They did this at the behest of Hezbollah-shill Jim Zogby of the Arab American Institute and two Hezbollah-connected Americans who gave both elected officials thousands in campaign contributions.
The money was USAID money, and it went straight into the hands of Hezbollah. USAID maintains almost no oversight and requires no accountability, and we don’t even know whether ANY of that money went to rebuilding at all. For all we know, it may have gone for weaponry and terrorist training.
Look for more of the same.
Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Allah Hu Akbar.
This is not the way you get tough on Hezbollah.
Tags: America, Arab American Institute, Bloomberg, Bush, chief, chief of staff, Cisco, Debbie Schlussel, Hizballah, Intel, Islamopandering then-Chief, Jim Zogby, Joe Knollenberg, Lebanon, Michigan, News Channel, Paris, Paul Welday, President, Randall Tobias, Shepard Smith, Spencer Abraham, United States, United States Agency for International Development, USD
Hmm, $770 million in U.S. aid to Hezbollah, sounds like protection money to me. I believe itís called the jizya. Truly, this is American dhimmitude in action.
Rocky on January 26, 2007 at 5:53 pm