this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024
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Arguably one of the reasons Israel gets so much aid is because it ensures that the Israeli defense industry can't compete, functions as a subsidy for the US defense industry (and the millions employed by it), and serves US strategic interests. Relevant article:
Ie. US aid to Israel isn't charity.
Similar story in Europe, despite Trump's complaints. As Ukraine illustrates, Europe currently lacks the industrial base to support Ukraine on its own, arguably also due to an over-reliance on the US and its defense industry. Luckily Trump, and more recently republicans blocking Ukraine aid, are likely to accelerate a pivot away from the US and towards increasing self-reliance.
The fediverse is often very left wing, but I get the idea that this is a huge blind spot for a lot of people here. US foreign policy starts to make far more sense, when you realise the US defense industry is sizeable, employs a lot of people, and the US administration defends that industry accordingly.
Certainly makes far more sense than this idea that the US is somehow beholden to a tiny little country like Israel, chooses to give it billions in military aid because pro-Israeli pressure groups are somehow incredibly powerful, or that politicians support Israel out of idealism, while almost entirely ignoring the fact that a lot of them are backed or lobbied by the defense industry. Certainly no one goes around complaining about the pro-Taiwan lobby, when discussing US military aid to Taiwan.
This, this right here. The military-industrial complex is the reason we are so fast to invade countries in the Middle East but slow to withdraw. Eisenhower warned us about it, but we have not heeded those warnings in the modern era.
This was very informative, thank you. Seems like I've got more reading to do.