International News
See other International News Articles
Title: U.S. Funds Israeli Missile Defense But Can’t Get the Technology
Source:
The New American
URL Source: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnew ... n%E2%80%99t-get-the-technology
Published: Aug 24, 2012
Author: Michael Tennant
Post Date: 2012-08-24 21:07:30 by We The People
Keywords: None
Views: 4683
Comments: 10
The United States has spent over $200 million on a highly effective missile defense system and plans to spend nearly $700 million more on it — yet U.S. troops in the field, including the highest-ranking military officer in the land, are still largely at the mercy of insurgents’ rockets. Why? The broad outlines of the Iron Dome system are widely understood: It’s a mobile set of interceptor batteries capable of shooting down rockets that adversaries launch from a distance of between five and 40 kilometers — difficult targets to hit, since they fly low, in a straight line, and quickly.... Using radar and a bit of math, the Iron Dome software figures out if a rocket is likely to land near a populated area. If so, Iron Dome fires its interceptor; if not, it finds a rocket that might. “The Israelis say it has an 80 percent success rate,” Ackerman adds, “which is all the more impressive when considering that the rockets Iron Dome shwacks can take as little as five seconds to hit a target.” Iron Dome was developed and built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., an Israeli government-owned, profit-making company that, since 2004, has been headed by retired Vice Adm. Yedidia Yaari, the former commander in chief of the Israel Navy. Rafael’s board chairman is retired Maj. Gen. Ilan Biran, former general director of the Ministry of Defense. In August, Rafael joined Raytheon Co. to market the Iron Dome system worldwide. The two are already partners in one of the other anti-missile systems that is being jointly run by Israel and the Pentagon. When it comes to Iron Dome, however, Rafael is playing things very close to the vest. House Armed Services Committee spokesman Claude Chafin told Ackerman that “the U.S. doesn’t have the necessary transparency into the details of Iron Dome that it has with other U.S.-Israeli anti-missile partnerships.” So here is the United States, having added to its own deficit by spending funds that it must borrow, helping to procure a missile defense system for Israel, which faces the threat but supposedly can’t pay for it alone. There is no guarantee, of course, that Iron Dome would be effective in protecting U.S. troops from insurgents’ rockets. But for $900 million, Washington ought at least to have a chance to find out.
The answer is that U.S. taxpayers have been shelling out big bucks for the defense of a foreign country; and that country, in turn, has been unwilling to disclose to Washington the details of the missile defense system it is funding. All the while, a company owned by that same country’s government is raking in profits manufacturing and selling the system.
The country in question is Israel, and the missile defense system is called Iron Dome.
According to Wired's Spencer Ackerman:
That, unfortunately, is about the extent of U.S. knowledge of Iron Dome. Washington supplied $205 million in funding for the system in 2011, and Israel is asking for — and will almost certainly get — another $680 million this year. But despite contributing a significant portion of the funds, “the United States has no rights to the technology involved” in Iron Dome, according to a report from the House Armed Services Committee.
Walter Pincus of the Washington Post provides some background on the missile defense system:
The committee is hoping to rectify that. Its version of the 2013 Defense Authorization Act includes the requested $680 million for Iron Dome but also instructs the director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency “to explore any opportunity to enter into co-production of the Iron Dome system with Israel, in light of the significant U.S. investment in this system.”
“The committee believes the Director should ensure, prior to disbursing additional funds on Iron Dome, that the United States has appropriate rights to this technology, as is consistent with prior U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation,” the committee’s bill markup reads.
DefenseNews.com reports that “the Pentagon is pushing for similar caveats in markups to come from Senate authorizers as well as appropriators from both houses of Congress.”
Note, by the way, that the $900 million the United States will have given to Israel in exchange for — thus far — exactly nothing is on top of the annual $3.1 billion in military aid the country already gets as a matter of course. (Needless to say, this aid — like all foreign aid to any country — is unconstitutional.) Then there’s the additional $168 million in the committee’s bill for other U.S.-Israeli joint missile defense projects plus $100 million that the Obama administration requested for those same projects.
Israel, meanwhile, has been cutting its own defense budget. The budget took a five-percent drop this year and is expected to be cut by the same amount next year.
Observes Pincus:
To add insult to injury, Pentagon officials must ask the Israeli government-owned company that is profiting from the weapons sales — including Iron Dome — if the United States can have a piece of the action.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: We The People (#0)
Obama is a muslim. Since he is a muslim his loyalties are to the mulims, not Americans. Israel would be foolish to give this information to Iran. Which is where it would end up if they told Obunghole anything.
So you are ok with ths? Our soldiers in harms way because a bastard parasite state chooses to use them as pawns? You seem to worship the bastard state without abandon...perhaps you and goldi-lox can get a package deal on an 'Aliyah armageddonite package' to the promised land. Hell, I might even chip in a few shekels... By ship of course and yes...you share quarters! Hey sally...did you a favor with the pic. Love, kisses...and slab bacon to ya!
It is not easy reconstructing 'molded minds'...
If Stone really cared, he' get over to Israel with a pick and shovel, and dig a Sadam Hussein hideout-hole for Bebe. Why should the US taxpayer get stuck?
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
That is pretty much what I'm saying, indeed! Would still help fund their 'transfer' if I knew it to be final...
It is not easy reconstructing 'molded minds'...
Then why did he attend a Catholic school?
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
The same question should be raised about the Welfare programs for parasites. Seems like we are spending way more money on that than on the military!
Choosing and voting for a presidential candidate is like picking which STD you want to suffer from….
Then why did he attend a Catholic school? One day he's a Muslim, the next day he's a Catholic, the next day he's a Christian, the next day he's a Jew.. His story (or should I say lies) changes everyday!!
Choosing and voting for a presidential candidate is like picking which STD you want to suffer from….
He still attended a Catholic school while living as a child in a Muslim country, during an era when you divisionists had much less influence and the various religions got along fairly well.
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
So are you saying that's where he learned all of his "anti-colonialism" theories??
Choosing and voting for a presidential candidate is like picking which STD you want to suffer from….
I wouldn't know. Did the nuns teach such theory in the Catholic elementary school you attended?
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
, has been unwilling to disclose to Washington the details of the missile defense system it is funding.
#2. To: A K A Stone, goldi-lox (#1)
The answer is that U.S. taxpayers have been shelling out big bucks for the defense of a foreign country; and that country, in turn, has been unwilling to disclose to Washington the details of the missile defense system it is funding
#3. To: Brian S, A K A Stone (#2)
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#4. To: hondo68, A K A Stone (#3)
If Stone really cared, he' get over to Israel with a pick and shovel, and dig a Sadam Hussein hideout-hole for Bebe.
#5. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Obama is a muslim. Since he is a muslim his loyalties are to the mulims, not Americans.
#6. To: hondo68 (#3)
Why should the US taxpayer get stuck?
#7. To: mininggold (#5)
Obama is a muslim. Since he is a muslim his loyalties are to the mulims, not Americans.
#8. To: CZ82 (#7)
One day he's a Muslim, the next day he's a Catholic, the next day he's a Christian, the next day he's a Jew.. His story (or should I say lies) changes everyday!!
#9. To: mininggold (#8)
He still attended a Catholic school while living as a child in a Muslim country, during an era when you divisionists had much less influence and the various religions got along fairly well.
#10. To: CZ82 (#9)
(Edited)
So are you saying that's where he learned all of his "anti- colonialism" theories??
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]