Breaking News: U.S. Committed to Israeli Security

“I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize man than any other nation” - Thomas Jefferson

Qualitative Military Edge

(ISTANBUL) - The top story currently featured on the U.S. State Department website, entitled “U.S.-Israel Security Cooperation”, offers a link to the full text of Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro’s July 16 sycophantic performance at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy, crucial component of the Israel lobby.

Also provided is a link to the video of the speech and to a fact sheet entitled “Deepening U.S.-Israel Security Ties Advances Prospects for Comprehensive Peace”.

Among the facts listed in support of prospective advancement are the following:

• This year, Congress fully funded the Obama Administration’s $2.775 billion security assistance request for Israel − the largest security assistance request for Israel in U.S. history.


• The Obama Administration is… asking Congress to approve $205 million to support production of Israeli-developed short range rocket defense system called Iron Dome.


• As U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell has said, “American commitment and determination are essential to the preservation of a sovereign and secure Israel and to the peaceful and just resolution of the conflict in the Middle East. There is as elsewhere a universal human desire to lead lives that are full, free and meaningful.”

Apparently of no concern is the instilment of meaning into the lives of Palestinian humans, who have thus far factored into the fact sheet only as the recipients of illicit arms smuggled into Gaza.

In case Israelis remain unconvinced of their privileged status, Assistant Secretary Shapiro covers additional facts in his longwinded speech, in which he takes responsibility for preserving Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge, or QME. Some highlights of Shapiro’s ode to the QME are listed below:

• “Since day one, President Obama and Secretary Clinton have not only honored and re-energized America’s enduring commitment to Israel’s security, but have taken action to expand it to an unprecedented level.”


• “Today, I can assure you that – even in challenging budgetary times – this Administration will continue to honor [the] 10-year, $30 billion commitment [to Israeli security] in future fiscal years.”


• “The unique relationship between the United States and Israel is rooted in common values, interwoven cultures, and mutual interests. U.S. support for the idea of a Jewish homeland dates back to John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and can be traced through the letters of Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt. Indeed, when Israel was founded in 1948, the United States was ready to embrace its new partner. President Truman famously extended official, diplomatic recognition to the State of Israel in just 11 minutes.”

Anyone in doubt of continuous U.S. support for Israel throughout history may refer to the Jewish Virtual Library page “U.S. Presidents on Israel”, which confirms that John Adams once wrote to Thomas Jefferson:

“I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize man than any other nation.”

The issue of what happens when civilization necessitates an elimination of certain men is however raised in Shapiro’s summary of the threats to Israel’s future aside from a nuclear Iran, in which their order of appearance is presumably not accidental:

“Israel’s future as a secure, Jewish, and democratic state is under threat from the dynamics of demography, ideology, and technology.”

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Belén is a feature writer at Pulse Media. Her articles also have appeared in CounterPunch, Narco News, Palestine Chronicle, Palestine Think Tank, Rebelión, Tlaxcala, The Electronic Intifada, Upside Down World, and Venezuelanalysis.com. Her book “Coffee with Hezbollah,” a humorous political travelogue chronicling her hitchhiking trip through Lebanon in the aftermath of the 2006 Israeli assault, is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble.

Born in Washington, DC, in 1982, Belén earned her bachelor's degree with a concentration in political science from Columbia University in New York City. Her diverse background of worldwide experiences, created a fantastic writer; one whose work we are extremely happy to share with Salem-News.com viewers. You can contact Belén at: belengarciabernal@gmail.com