According to USAID, "the United States and Egypt have collaborated closely in economic development and regional stability... U.S. economic assistance through USAID has totaled almost $26 billion since 1975."
And here's $1.7 billion more. From AP: "House committee approves foreign aid bill"
WASHINGTON - A House committee approved a bill Thursday that would give Egypt $1.7 billion after rejecting a Democratic lawmaker's effort to withhold some of the aid until the country makes political reforms.
[...]
On Egypt, the bill fully funds President Bush's request, including $50 million for programs encouraging democratic reforms and $50 million for education. Money would be withheld until Egypt reformed certain parts of its financial sector.
Administration officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill call Egypt an important ally in the Middle East. Nevertheless, they have called for greater democracy in the Arab nation and have raised concerns about Egypt's human rights record.
[...]
Rep. David Obey, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, sought to send a message about Egypt's record on democracy. His amendment would have withheld $200 million intended for new weapons and equipment for the Egyptian military until Congress determined progress has been made on political reforms.
Democracy is not the panacea that Obey may believe it is, as demonstrated by Islamist exploitation of the democratic process, but there are plenty of reasons to withhold aid from Egypt.
"It is absolutely urgent that we send some signal to the Egyptian government that they've got to change ... before it's too late to matter," Obey, D-Wis., said.
Indeed.
But Kolbe called Obey's amendment "the wrong approach" and said that Egypt would just get the money for new weapons and equipment from other countries. "That means China, that means Russia," Kolbe said.
That means their money, not ours.
Egypt has in recent years been the third largest purchaser of arms on the international market -- after China and India. $7.5 billion a few years ago.
Why? Why does Egypt receive $2 billion in military and economic aid, which frees up at least $2 billion that it then spends on military equipment? What is going on? Is Egypt worried that it might have to defend itself from Libya, with less than 1/10th the population and a farcical army? From Sudan, which relies on Egypt's diplomatic maneuvering to protect it from undue (i.e., any effective) intervention as the Sudanese Muslim Arabs continue to murder black Africans in Darfur, and will get around to renewing their attacks in the southern Sudan just as soon as they think the Americans are not looking?
No. Egypt is preparing for war with Israel. What keeps the peace between them is not those silly Camp David Accords, but the same thing that keeps the peace between Israel and Syria, Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel and Iran, Israel and every Arab state. What keeps the peace is only fear of the damage that Israel can inflict on the Arabs. And that is it. Nothing else, and certainly not any quite unnecessary "treaty" made between Infidel Israel and any Arab or Muslim state.
Egypt is not an "ally." Egypt is a country ruled by a corrupt military elite -- Mubarak's family-and-friends plan. Those who oppose Mubarak are, with a handful of exceptions, from the viewpoint of Infidels even worse (less corrupt, that Musliim brotherhood, but corruption as a brake on fanaticism is not always a bad thing). Egypt cannot be an "ally" because Egypt is a country ruled by the attitudes and teachings of Islam. There is no reason for Infidels to keep subsidizing the ballooning Egyptian population, which must be brought under control, and not exported to the West, or supported, within Egypt, by that same West. There is no reason to keep paying Egypt the Jizyah of foreign aid. The malevolence of the Egyptian press and other media, which has made Egypt a world center of antisemitism and one of the centers of anti-Americanism, and which the Egyptian government can control completely if it wishes (just try to make fun, even in a paragraph, of Mubarak's plans for his son, and see how long that lasts).
The phoniness of the rigged elections, the violence against Egyptian protestors, the cruel kangaroo-court proceedings against Ayman al-Nour, the official complicity in attacks on Copts, the meretriciousness of Egypt in failing to fulfill any of its solemn obligations under the original agreement that supposedly justified giving Egypt aid in the first place -- those famous Camp David Accords in which it was a case of one side, and one side only, giving up something tangible, while Egypt offered nothing in return except a "peace" that is exactly the same "peace" that Israel has with all kinds of countries that did not sign such accords -- a "peace" based only on deterrence.
American taxpayers do not wish their representatives to commit them to paying this Jizyah. Unlike official Washington, most people can see that repetition of the word "ally" next to Egypt is hollow. Nor, unlike the Tom Friedmans of this world, are unfoolable Americans likelly to regard Saad Eddin Ibrahim as some kind of answer, for his malevolence toward Israel betrays his own limited ability to get away from the attitudes and atmospherics of Islam.
Stop that damn Jizyah. Write your Congressmen. Phone.
No payment of the Jizyah tax has been authorized by American Infidels. They do not wish, any longer, to pay it -- now that they understand what it is. They are not fooled by repetition of this word "ally." Their representatives in Congress are far behind them in their own comprehension. Perhaps it is time for others to take their place.
Oh, and one more thing. Saudi Arabia takes in more than 1/2 billion dollars every day, without a single Saudi lifting a finger, from its accidental oil. Kuwait, the U.A.E., and the other Muslmi OPEC nations, should be the ones asked to support Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, and the "Palestinians." They have the money. It is demeaning, and absurd, for Infidels to be expected to support every Muslim state or polity that happens not to have oil wealth. It is psychologically disastrous, becuase it sets up the expectation, on both sides, that this payment will continue, that somehow it is deserved. Thus do the "Palestinians" shriek with indignation at tht very idea that Europe and America will not continue to fund them -- but why shoudl we? Why? Thus does the govenment of Egypt think it need not fulfill its Camp David commitments, need not go through more than the merest of motions to show that Democracy Is On the March, need not end the antisemitic and anti-American propaganda that fills Egyptian airwaves and printing presses, need not denounce the attacks on Copts and arrest all the Muslims whipping up such attacks, need not support the Americans at the U.N., need not -- need not do anything at all.
Let the rich Arabs use up some of their unmerited gains to support the poor Arabs. Leave the Infidels out of the equation altogher. The more money Saudi Arabia spends on bread for Egyptians, the less it will have left over to pay for mosques, madrasas, and armies of Western hirelings and Da'wa throughout the Western world.
I guess the Congress isn't content with destroying the country at home, via its suicidal immigration policies, but also wants to guarantee its obliteration abroad.
Contempt for the citizens has reached its pinnacle among the elected "servants of the people".
"Una scopa nuova spazza bene."
(A new broom sweeps clean.)
If we make it to November.
"Una scopa nuova..."
-- from a posting above
I'd watch it with that "scopa nuova" stuff. We've got enough trouble with that "chi-mi-ama-mi-sega" business.
In November, I will remember.
This should now put the debt burden onto the great-grand children of those working in the US today.
The unfunded pension/social security fund just got more unfunded. Next we'll hear calls for more immigration to supply workers to fund the pension plan. A study done in France shows that immigrants cost 30% more than they contribute, per person.
I wonder what the grand total of money going out of the pockets of US workers into the coffers of other countries amounts to? I bet it would fund the pension/social security fund and then some.
Everyone is born with x ammount of 'lifes energy', that will last x ammount of time. With this energy, we breath, drink, eat, think, walk around, work, play, enjoy, cope, love, hate ect. This energy belongs to you exclusively and is not owned by another, except by slavery. The national wealth is created by the intelligent use of that energy, by the people. The government has no money and must then convert the 'lifes energy', of the people to its own ends. People like to keep what they have earned, so govs use strong arm tactics to extract it from them.
This is the main reason for the dislike of welfare. "Why should my money, that converts directly from expenditures of 'my' lifes energy, be taken away from me and given to 'that' guy, who is only expending 'his', in pursuit of free living and pleasure. In other words, 'Why in the world should I be working for him?'
How do you like working for the Egyptian gov? Or the so called Palestinians, or the Saudi's, or any Islamic entity? The Government is vampiring your energy and giving it away to loafers and enemies. The government wont voluntarily stop doing that. You must rip its teeth out of your neck, throw the bloodsucker to the ground, and stomp on it. And keep stomping untill gov hollers'uncle' and admits that it works for you and not the other way around. In the US that can be done by voting, political activism, jury nullification, and holding elected officials directly responsible for screw-ups.
For the present, Bush, stop the jizya, stop supporting people who hate us, and stop acting like it's you're right to do so. You dont own what you are giving away. Give unto Seizer what is Seizers's...Seizerr does not own your lifes energy, you dont have to give it to him...
O.T. but an interesting example of anti-dhimmitude:
Michael Nazir-Ali comes from Pakistan and, therefore, will know what allowing one other faith (not specifically named here) to get a toehold in a society will in the end mean for people, viz., injustice and suffering beyond their power to imagine.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2197915.html
Most C of E bishops are, of course, too ill-informed to know about Islam and too lazy to find out.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is more typical of the C of E. The Telegraph has revealed that he has sent a letter of approval to a madrassa in Afghanistan that is "strongly linked with a sectarian terrorist group"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/05/23/do2303.xml
BECAUSE TRUE ISLAM MEANS NEVER WEARING SHORTS............issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts.
Other Iraqi athletes have been targeted in recent incidents.
In this case, according to accounts, the men dropped off laundry and were then stopped in their vehicle by gunmen.
Leaflets
Two of the athletes stepped out of the car and were shot in the head, said one witness. The third was shot dead in the vehicle.
"The gunman took the body out of the car and threw it on top of the other two bodies before stealing the car," said the witness, who requested anonymity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5020804.stm
Sofia,
I think one could make a similar point from a non-religious viewpoint as well. The kind of attitude that Michael Nazir-Ali is criticizing comes across to me as an armchair nihilism. One really cannot be open to anything and everything, and I think that people who are are too comfortable and too lacking in imagination to have any idea of what a really different set of values would mean in practice. Bruce Bawer said something in his book that I've often thought, and after reading the book, a friend of mine quoted that passage to me and said he'd often thought the same, too. It was that many people in Europe and North America have never known anything other than peace and security and they seem to think that that is the normal condition of mankind. It is not.
they should do welfare reform with countries like Egypt. it has been proven that by removing welfare from able bodied people, they return to the work force. well that lesson should be used for other countries. and any money spent will have strings attached, but countries like Egypt make me sick, they do not need it, and do not appreciate money coming from the US. you need to do among other things contact your congressman, senators l am learning are gettling to be uselss, by the way they are trying to ram down their so called "immigration bill".
Would be nice if they attached a rider on that hefty little chunk o' change:
"Monies shall be released upon receipt of written guarantees that all Catholic, Coptic, and Jewish worship centers in Egypt be restored using no less than ten percent of monies attached. Financial and physical management of Christian and Jewish worship center restoration shall be managed by the grantor of funds, the United States of America and delegates from each of the above-named faith groups."
I know, I know... in my dreams.
"...If you stop paying the Jiziya we will blow up the pyramids..."
Wouldn't surprise me if it comes to that...
Hugh-
My Italian is tourist level ("Una bottiglia acqua minerale" being most essential), thus what I get from your "chi mi ama mi sega" is: "Who loves me, saws me." (Is that a Zarqawi note of warning about REALLY mistranslating: "Who loves me, sees me"?)
Just enjoyed Italo Calvino's "Six Memos for the Next Millennium" (five, actually, since he died, sadly, before the last was to be delivered) and want to get to the point where I can read it in his own language.
One phrase I do know, which should be written at the beginning of every Koran:
"Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate."
-Dante.
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
"...If you stop paying the Jiziya we will blow up the pyramids..."
With their puny car bombs, the pyramids won't even know those idiots are there. Even a nuclear blast would do little damage to a pyramid unless it was a direct it.
somethingaboutislam-
The Muslims did manage to peel the bright, white limestone coverings off the pyramids, which originally were not jagged-stepped, but smooth-sided and even more impressively surreal.
Give them time.
This is disgusting but hardly surprising. Our government would rather spend billions on those that hate us rather than on the needs of the American people.
Is anyone working on a congressional letter writing campaign on this?
Committee members list:
http://appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutTheCommittee.MemberList&SubcommitteeId=18
"...If you stop paying the Jiziya we will blow up the pyramids..."
Just because Egyptians, who should care most for the pyramids, hold them at ransom, we can't risk our survival. If Egyptians don't care for pyramids, we care less!
Egyptians of note:
- Arafat
- Aiman Al-Zawahiri
- Atta
... and US pays annual Jazia of 2 bil. Go figure!
This is disgusting but hardly surprising. Our government would rather spend billions on those that hate us rather than on the needs of the American people.
Posted by: corli at May 27, 2006 08:04 AM
Good Point! As if corruption at Saudi petro dollars was not enough, fools in Washington can't see beyond the Patomac river, much less in Pakistan, the mother; and Saudi Arabia, the father of internatioal terror.
somethingaboutislam,
To blow up the Bamiyan Buddhas, they used 100000 kgs of explosives. And we know how much regard the muslims have for world heritage. They can easily destroy them. When till date, with vast resources at our disposal, we have not been able to figure out the mysteries of pyramids, or about the people who made them, the Egyptians. Nothing is needed in the world of muslims, except a book and something to destroy with.
arjun.sevak-
Are you saying that the real title of the al-Qur'an in English is:
"The Anarchist's Cookbook"?
profitsbeard,
We need the pyramids. That is what I mean. We need these 5000 year old things. And I do not think there are any "Egyptian", or "Jordanian" or "Saudi" or whatever. They are all encroachers on remains of cultures. Treat virus like virus.