Ros-Lehtinen won't say whether she believes Congress can override Obama
Here's Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Middle East and North Africa subcommittee, refuses to say whether she believes Congress can override an Obama veto of a bill disapproving his Iran nuclear sellout, but she's obviously quite opposed to it herself.
Let's go to the videotape.
Wouldn't it be amazing if Congress overrode the inevitable Obama veto?
Great news: Iranian influence in Latin America 'growing'
It's been nearly six years since the picture above was taken, and Adam Kredo reports that it's only gotten worse.
Iran’s growing influence in the region—and its effort to exert
influence over governments there—has fostered pressing security concerns
as the Iranians inch closer to the United States’ southern border,
according to these U.S. officials and Latin American leaders, who met
for several days this week at a summit organized by the Israel Allies
Foundation (IAF).
“It is troubling in some of the briefings we get, particularly on the
classified side, to see Iranian influence in Latin America,” Rep. Ron
DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs,
told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview. “A lot of these [Latin American officials] share the concern.”
“It’s a security risk for all of us,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis was one of several members of Congress and 20 Latin American
lawmakers from 14 different countries who met during the IAF summit,
which began on Sunday and ran until Tuesday morning.
Iran is becoming increasingly open about its presence in Latin
America and providing its officials with passports from Venezuela and
other countries, giving them free rein to travel throughout South
America.
Iran has forged close ties with countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, among others.
Luis Heber, a member of the Uruguayan senate, said that Iranian
agents—who some suspect are members of the country’s Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC)—have been spotted in his country holding Venezuelan
passports.
Officials have determined that there is “a clear penetration of Iran
in our country,” Heber said during remarks Sunday before U.S. lawmakers
and other Latin American officials.
“We’ve also seen Venezuelan passports in the hands of Iranians,” he
revealed. “The penetration of Venezuela by Iran is clear. There is
overwhelming information on this.”
...
“The threat level has increased, it’s more open,” said Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.), vice-chair of the House’s Subcommittee on the
Western Hemisphere.
“The Iranian threat comes not from espionage as much, but from
influencing the ideology of their host country,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
“That’s what they’re aiming for and penetrating [these countries] so
they have a presence in Latin America right at the foothold of the U.S.”
Iran establishes consulates in these countries and then uses them as a
base to conduct espionage and other covert activities, Ros-Lehtinen
said.
“How is it they have Iranian consulates in Latin America?” she asked.
“It’s ridiculous to think all of sudden Latin Americans want to travel
to Iran. They’re not using it to issue their visas. Something is
happening that Iran is penetrating the Western Hemisphere and it’s not
for cultural exchanges or approval of travel docs.”
“This makes no sense … other than espionage, subterfuge, and illicit activities,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
This activity has intensified of late, several officials said.
This is what happens when the World's only superpower decides it doesn't want to be a superpower anymore.
Voting 79 for and 19 against, the Senate on Jan. 31 tabled (killed)
an attempt to end U.S. military assistance to Egypt in response to
instability there under a Muslim Brotherhood-led government. Offered to
HR 325 (above), the amendment sought, in part, to stop deliveries of
military vehicles such as Abrams tanks and aircraft such as the F-16
fighter jet. Backers said the U.S. should not be propping up a
government openly hostile to America, while opponents said the amendment
would upend U.S.-Egypt relations, harm Israel and worsen chaos in the
Middle East.
But the Republicans have not given up. On Thursday, Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Ok), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced a bill conditionally suspending military sales to Egypt.
"For months, I have been calling on the President and his Administration to delay F-16 deliveries to Egypt," said Inhofe.
"I still am insisting the Administration suspend this transaction to
Egypt. Today there was an effort on the Senate floor to cut off all
sales of military equipment, including future F-16s, to Egypt.
While the intent is understood, the prohibition would cost taxpayers $2.2
billion and would rob the U.S. of leverage to put Egypt on the path
toward true democracy.
"For decades, the U.S. has had a good relationship with Egypt, training
their troops and working together to maintain peace and stability in the
region. Under Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi, this relationship
has come to a halt. We need to continue to support the Egyptian
military, which Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood have currently
distanced themselves from. Egypt’s military is our friend – Morsi is our
enemy.
"Today I have introduced a bill to delay any further deliveries of F-16s until
the President certifies to Congress that the Government of Egypt agrees
(1) to continue to uphold its commitments under the Camp David Peace
Accords, (2) to provide proper security at United States embassies and
consulates, (3) to bring stability to its nation by ending its
systematic exclusion and silencing of all official minority political
opposition, and (4) to take concrete steps to engage in dialogue with
such opposition parties and consider a coalition, power-sharing
government with such opposition parties. I believe that won’t happen
until Morsi is gone, and we’ve got to keep this leverage to make this
happen."
Earlier in the week, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) said that he would propose similar legislation.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) has introduced legislation in the House that goes even further than Inhofe's bill, and last week sought co-sponsors via a Dear Colleague letter.
On Thursday, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) circulated a Dear Colleague letter seeking co-sponsors for H.R.416, a
bill she introduced on January 25. The “Egypt Accountability and
Democracy Promotion Act” would “condition security assistance and
economic assistance to the Government of Egypt.” The letter expressed
concern over Egypt’s turmoil, President Morsi’s “continued civil rights
violations” and anti-Semetic comments, and that “aid could possibly be
used for nefarious intentions.” The act would require “certification
that Egypt is: Not controlled by a foreign terrorist organization,
Transitioning to a free-market democratic government, Adopting and
implementing legal reforms that protect the rights of all citizens,
Fully implementing the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, [and] Destroying the
smuggling network between Egypt and Gaza.”
Representative Ed Whitfield (R-Ky) announced on Thursday that he and several colleagues would send a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State John FN Kerry urging them not to send the F-16's to Egypt.
“In the three years it has taken for the procurement of these aircraft,
Egypt has undergone significant changes in their government, including a
revolution and the installment of a new leader, Mohamed Morsi, a former
leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Given this substantial change in
circumstances, we strongly believe reconsideration of
previously-allocated military assistance to this nation is critical.
Recent
and previous statements by President Morsi indicate a clear hostility
towards non-Muslims in Egypt as well as towards the United States and
her allies—particularly Israel. Specifically, multiple recent reports of
President Morsi’s anti-Semitic and anti-American comments, and of
increased religious persecution and civil rights violations perpetrated
by his government, are cause for great concern. The instability of the
region is also evident from this weekend’s anti-government protests that
resulted in at least 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries. We are also
concerned with news of President Morsi granting emergency powers to the
Egyptian military to arrest Egyptian civilians and serve as a police
force in the country. Thus, the United States should be extremely
cautious in providing any financial support to Egypt—to say nothing of
military weaponry.”
Unfortunately, President Hussein Obama is likely to fight this at least as hard as he fought the Iran sanctions last term....
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) rips President Obama's foreign policy and calls for the election of Mitt Romney as President. Romney, says Ros-Lehtinen, would be a 'no apology' President.
State Department officials last month expressed concern the department had been unable to provide full funding to the Palestinian Authority for institution-building projects as the United States seeks to rejuvenate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., had questioned the Obama administration's request for $147 million for the Palestinian Authority at a time when P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded preconditions for returning to the negotiations while also pushing a unilateral statehouse plan at the United Nations. She also expressed concern that $26.4 million had been requested for projects in Hamas-run Gaza.
"The administration also says we need to help 'rebuild the Palestinian economy' -- this at a time when our economy is facing serious challenges and Americans are suffering," Ros-Lehtinen said.
Indeed.
And you thought that the Obama administration really wants the 'Palestinians' to come back to the negotiating table. If that's really the goal, wouldn't Obama say that they get no aid until they come to the table?
But worse than that, where is the US national security interest here? Is Obama afraid that if the US doesn't give the 'Palestinians' their financial aid, they'll start flying passenger planes into the World Trade Center or something? If so, isn't there another way to stop them aside from throwing more money at them?
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is allowing U.S. funds to flow to the West Bank and Gaza despite a hold by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a rare display of executive-branch authority sure to anger the key lawmaker concerned about protecting her congressional oversight role.
A State Department official saidthat the letter was delivered on Tuesday to key members of Congress informing them of Clinton's decision to move forward with the $147 million package of the fiscal year 2011 economic support funds for the Palestinian people, despite Ros-Lehtinen's hold. Administrations generally do not disburse funding over the objections of lawmakers on relevant committees.
"[The funds deliver] critical support to the Palestinian people and those leaders seeking to combat extremism within their society and build a more stable future. Without funding, our programs risk cancellation," the official, who was not authorized to speak about the issue, said in an e-mail. "Such an occurrence would undermine the progress that has been made in recent years in building Palestinian institutions and improving stability, security, and economic prospects, which benefits Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
To sum up, the American publications caused the following damage:
Iran now has a decent picture of what Israel’s and America’s intelligence communities know about Tehran’s nuclear program and defense establishment, including its aerial defenses.
The Iranians now know about the indications that would be perceived by Washington and Jerusalem as a “nuclear breakthrough”. Hence, Iran can do a better job of concealment.
The reports make it more difficult to utilize certain operational options. These options, even if not considered thus far, could have been used by the US in the future, should Iran not thwart them via diplomatic and military means.
Needless to say, this is not how one should be treating an ally, even if this is a relationship between a superpower and a satellite state. The targeted assassination campaign currently undertaken by the US government also sharply contradicts President Obama’s declaration at the AIPAC Conference, whereby he and the US recognize Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself by itself. One cannot utter these words and a moment later exposes Israel’s vulnerabilities and possible strike routes to its enemies.
Indeed, there is a difference between legitimate persuasion efforts and practical steps to thwart Israeli plans and eliminate them.
For a total of seven years, I served as Yedioth Ahronoth’s reporter in Washington, so I know very well that with a few exceptions, the US Administration knows how to prevent leaks to the media if it so wishes. This is the case even when dealing with former officials, and most certainly when dealing with current government officials. What we are seeing here is not a trickle of information, but rather, a powerful current, a true flood that leaves no doubt as to the existence of an orchestrated media campaign with clear aims.
There is another interesting aspect to this story from an American point of view: In 2002, when President George W. Bush sought to embark on war in Iraq, US intelligence agencies provided him with all the “evidence” that Saddam Hussein is developing large quantities of nuclear and chemical weapons. Following the war, when no traces of such weapons were discovered in Iraq, a Congress inquiry found that US intelligence officials were so eager to satisfy their president that they cut corners and relied on unsubstantiated information.
Given American media reports in recent days, one must wonder whether history is repeating itself. Could it be that the US intelligence community is providing President Obama with what he needs for political reasons – that is, information meant to curb an Israeli or American strike on Iran?
Waiting for someone on the Republican side of the aisle to expose this. Perhaps someone should send this to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen since we saw Wednesday night that she has more you-know-what's than any of her party's Presidential candidates.
I guess now we know how this got into Foreign Policy earlier today. I wonder whether Mark Perry feels dirty for having been used. Nah. He doesn't have a conscience.
Ros-Lehtinen: 'Where does the State Department think Jerusalem is? On Mars?'
Too bad House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) isn't running for President, because she is the first in with a reaction to Wednesday's circus at the State Department.
NEWS
House Foreign Affairs Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman
CONTACT: Brad Goehner and Andeliz Castillo, (202) 225-5021
Alex Cruz (South Florida press), (202) 225-8200
http://foreignaffairs.house.gov
For IMMEDIATE Release – March 28, 2012
Ros-Lehtinen: ‘Where Does Administration Think Jerusalem Is? On Mars?’
Urges Administration to Enforce U.S. Law, Move Embassy to Jerusalem
(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today called on the Administration to publically recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. During today’s Department of State press briefing, the Department’s spokesperson refused to answer whether Jerusalem is located in Israel and whether it is the capital of Israel. The questions were related to a press release issued Monday by the Department that noted ongoing travel by a Department official to “Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Jerusalem, and Israel,” implying that Jerusalem and Israel are two distinct entities. State later issued a release noting the official’s travel to “Algiers, Doha, Amman, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv.” Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:
“For more than three years, the Obama Administration has followed in the flawed footsteps of its predecessors by refusing to fully implement U.S. law and move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
“Now, the Administration has gone even further. A mistake on a press release is understandable, but today the Administration doubled down on its determination to treat Jerusalem as separate from Israel. Where does the Administration think Jerusalem is? On Mars?
“Legitimizing the myth that Jerusalem isn’t part of Israel undermines our ally Israel’s sovereign right to designate its own capital, and lends credibility to efforts by Palestinian leaders and extremists who continue to deny the connection of the Jewish people to their historic capital, Jerusalem.
“The Administration needs to face reality, recognize publicly that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel, and fully enforce U.S. law by moving our embassy to Jerusalem.”
Indeed.
Let's hear it for 10-year old Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky (and his parents), whose Supreme Court win on Monday is a major cause for the Obama administration's 'Jerusalem problem.'
Video: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on the 'Obama doctrine'
Here's an interview with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) talking about the 'Obama doctrine' (I'll bet you didn't know there was one).
The Obama administration convinced House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) that giving 'security assistance' to the 'Palestinian Authority' is a good idea, and $200 million of aid money to the 'Palestinians' has been unfrozen.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that she would release her block on two separate sections of security aid – one for $50 million , and the second for $150 million.
An additional $200 million in economic assistance is still being withheld by both the State and Foreign Relations Appropriations Subcommittee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Both the security and economic funds were frozen by Congress in August, in response to the PA’s strategy of seeking unilateral recognition of statehood during the UN General Assembly in September.
A second key house leader, State and Foreign Relations Appropriations Subcommittee Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), had used her committee to freeze only the economic aid, believing PA security forces aided in countering the influence of Hamas. Ros-Lehtinen’s move has removed the last roadblock to the security aid package.
Funding packages can be blocked by either chairwoman, and need the support of both representatives in order to be released.
In recent weeks, Ros-Lehtinen received extensive documentation from the administration explaining why releasing the security funds supported both America’s and Israel’s interests.
A committee spokesman said that Ros-Lehtinen received over 1,000 pages of documentation on this aid money from the White House. I wonder whether in their three years in the White House, they have produced 1,000 pages of documentation on Iran.
For now, the 'Palestinian Authority' has suspended its bids to join 16 UN agencies as a full member.
The Palestinian foreign minister stressed that the PA's decision to shelve its general membership bids would enable it to focus its efforts on the UN Security Council bid and the drive to become a full member at the UN.
UNESCO's acceptance, he said, constitutes a positive push for the PA's diplomatic efforts in the UN. The PLO first applied to UNESCO in 1989.
Turning his attention to the nearing UN Security Council vote, al-Malki said that if the Palestinians fail to get the necessary votes, or in case the US vetoes a favorable vote – as it said it would do – the Palestinians would pursue other avenues of acceptance into the United Nations.
"An observer status is no longer enough," he explained.
The Palestinian foreign minister's statement followed an admonition by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said that the Palestinian efforts to join other United Nations agencies were "not beneficial for Palestine and not beneficial for anybody."
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) is onto something.
Ros-Lehtinen foreign aid restrictions barely make it out of committee
With a $14.5 trillion deficit and the country mired in a deep, double dip recession (which has looked more like a prolonged single dip), you would think that there would be better uses for American funds than supporting the likes of the 'Palestinian Authority,' revolutionary Egypt and Pakistan. Well, Congress agrees with you, writes Liz Berney, but just barely.
The Republican Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, recently introduced H.R. 2583, “The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2012,” which seeks to de-fund U.S. foreign aid to Pakistan, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen and the Palestinian Authority unless these regimes meet certain critical conditions, including the following:
• Further aid to Pakistan would be conditioned on Pakistan: assisting “investigating the existence of an official or unofficial support network in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden,” including access to bin Laden’s relatives and former compound in Abottabad; facilitating visas to U.S. citizens engaged in counterterrorism efforts; and complying with existing strategic assistance requirements to cooperate with the war on terror. (H.R. 2583, Section 982)
• Lebanon would not receive further aid if a member of Hezbollah (or other terrorist organization) serves in any government policy position. Hezbollah currently dominates the Lebanese cabinet; thus Lebanon would need to change this to receive further U.S. aid. The proposed law would also require the Lebanese government: to comply with the Special Tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; to dismantle foreign terrorist organization infrastructure; and to engage in anti-terrorism vetting and tracking of Lebanon’s security forces benefitting from U.S. assistance. (Section 962) These are all eminently reasonable conditions. We should not be funding a government dominated by the very same Hezbollah terrorist organization that perpetrated terrorist attacks which killed hundreds of U.S. marines, and that is now pointing 45,000 missiles at Israel.
• Further aid to the Palestinian Authority would be conditioned on: the PA finally terminating its anti-Israel incitement in the media, schools, mosques and other government-controlled institutions; no member of Hamas or other foreign terrorist organization serving in any government policy position; the PA finally meeting its obligations to dismantle foreign terrorist infrastructure, confiscate unauthorized weapons, pre-empt terrorist attacks and fully cooperate with Israeli security services; the PA’s recognition of Israel as a Jewish state; and anti-terrorism vetting and tracking of security services benefitting from U.S. assistance. (Section 971) These are also eminently reasonable conditions. U.S. foreign aid should not be sent to terrorists or to governments that incite terrorism or break their agreements to thwart terrorism.
• Security assistance to Egypt would be prohibited unless the U.S. President submits a report certifying that the Egyptian government: (i) is not directly or indirectly controlled by a foreign terrorist organization, its affiliates or supporters; (ii) is fully implementing the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty; and (iii) is detecting and destroying smuggling networks and tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. (Section 951) These items reflect Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen’s call for “the unequivocal rejection of any involvement by the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremists who may seek to exploit and hijack these events to gain power.” (By contrast, the Obama administration, through its prior spokesperson Robert Gibbs, said that the new Egyptian government “has to include a whole host of important nonsecular actors.” In other words, Obama insists that the new Egyptian government must include the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization that promotes arms smuggling into Gaza and wants to tear up the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.)
Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen’s bill would also require the Secretary of State to submit a report that the Egyptian government is adopting and implementing legal reforms that protect the religious and democratic freedoms of all citizens and residents of Egypt. The last item is aimed at stopping the horrific recent Islamist slaughters of Egyptian Christian Copts.
H.R. 2583 also contains “national security waiver” provisions permitting the President to waive above-mentioned conditions on foreign aid if the President determines this to be vital to U.S. national security.
On July 21, 2011, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen’s bill passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 23 to 20. Every Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee voted for the bill. Sadly, every Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee (including our local Congressman Ackerman) voted against this worthy legislation. It is particularly disappointing that Ackerman voted against the bill, in light of some recent constructive comments that Ackerman made condemning the PA’s incitement of terrorism and favoring defunding a Hamas-allied PA. Ackerman should “vote where his mouth is.”
After passage out of committee, Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen’s terrorism defunding bill ran into an even bigger wall of Obama administration and Democratic Party opposition. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote a blistering letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, charging that the proposed defunding law would be “debilitating” to Mrs. Clinton’s “efforts to carry out considered foreign policy and diplomacy.” Since when does any sane “considered foreign policy and diplomacy” include sending our tax dollars to terrorist regimes? It is Congress’s right and duty to place restrictions on foreign aid: The Constitution doesn’t give Mrs. Clinton and the State Department “carte blanche” with our tax dollars.
Outrageously, Mrs. Clinton also complained that the restrictions on aiding governments containing terrorists were “crippling.” She also wrote that certifications regarding the involvement of foreign terrorist organizations in governments and the Palestinian Authority were “burdensome and infeasible” for the Obama administration. In other words, it’s too much trouble for the Obama administration to determine whether our tax dollars are going to terrorists!
Mrs. Clinton also specifically objected to a portion of the bill that requires the President to finally move the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s capital (Jerusalem) by 2014.
Mrs. Clinton’s letter also threatened that she will urge President Obama to veto H.R. 2583. Obama has no doubt already decided to veto the terrorism defunding bill if it passes both houses of Congress: the Obama administration has been sending more foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority than any past president, as well as aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza. And Obama promised $1 billion in loan forgiveness plus $1 billion in loan guarantees to the Muslim Brotherhood-influenced new Egyptian regime.
It is believed that the Democratic-controlled Senate will vote against H.R. 2583. (Moreover, the Senate version of a foreign affairs authorization bill, S. 1426, introduced by Democratic Senator John Kerry, contains no restrictions on sending foreign aid to governments that include terrorists or incite terrorism.)
Shamefully, there isn’t a single Democrat in either house of Congress who has supported Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen’s sensible, much-needed bill.
But there's no chance that American Jewry will consider not voting Democratic in 2012, let alone vote Republican. None at all.
Obama administration scrambling to keep aid to the 'Palestinians' flowing
The Obama administration is meeting with key members of Congress (presumably Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl)) in a bid to get them to release their hold on aid to the 'Palestinian Authority.'
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday the administration was in "intensive" discussions with key lawmakers who had put holds on the money, a financial lifeline for the fledgling Palestinian government-in-waiting.
"We still have some money in the pipeline but the concern is that if we don't get this going with the Congress in short order there could be an effect on the ground," Nuland told a news briefing.
"There have been some concerns in some parts of Congress and we are trying to work through those," she said.
Lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have moved in recent weeks to freeze the flow of aid to the Palestinians that had been appropriated for fiscal year 2011.
Representative Kay Granger, the Republican chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, placed her hold in August "until the issue of statehood is resolved" at the United Nations, her spokesman, Matt Leffingwell, said.
"My boss is watching what is happening at the UN, and constantly reevaluating," he said.
So now we know of at least two holds on aid to the 'Palestinian Authority.' I did a quick search and didn't find any other names, but there may be others. And it's apparently been in effect since August 18.
And now we know who is responsible for the $200 million in US aid that the 'Palestinian Authority' did not get over the weekend: Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl), the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is holding back nearly $200 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is keeping her House of Representatives committee from considering approval of $192 million in humanitarian program assistance, two Capitol Hill sources said.
The money is separate from assistance to the Palestinian Authority, $200 million of which has already been distributed, and instead is earmarked for nongovernmental groups.
Such holds on NGO money have been held in the past pending oversight to show that the NGOs are not working with terrorist groups. Ros-Lehtinen in recent weeks has expressed concern that a tentative agreement to unite the Palestinian Authority with Hamas is already in effect. Hamas is the U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip.
The Americans for Peace Now website is reporting that other House Republicans also are holding the money, and that Republicans in the House and Senate are holding $150 million in security assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
Republicans and Democrats have warned that such money may be withheld if the Palestinians do not pull back from their attempt to gain statehood recognition through the United Nations and absent peace talks with Israel.
Steven Lee Myers and Mark Landler write about Obama administration efforts to thwart a Palestinian statehood declaration at the UN. Early on they report:
The administration has made it clear to Mr. Abbas that it will veto any request presented to the United Nations Security Council to make a Palestinian state a new member outright.
But the United States does not have enough support to block a vote by the General Assembly to elevate the status of the Palestinians’ nonvoting observer “entity” to that of a nonvoting observer state. The change would pave the way for the Palestinians to join dozens of United Nations bodies and conventions, and it could strengthen their ability to pursue cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
This goes into the "no kidding, Sherlock" file as this is something that Mahmoud Abbas wrote about in an op-ed in the New York Times back in May.
Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political one. It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice.
Aside from the dishonest telling of the creation of Israel it was this threat that marked the op-ed less as a plea for peace than a declaration of belligerence. But what's more troubling is the following paragraph.
Senior officials said the administration wanted to avoid not only a veto but also the more symbolic and potent General Assembly vote that would leave the United States and only a handful of other nations in the opposition. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic maneuverings, said they feared that in either case a wave of anger could sweep the Palestinian territories and the wider Arab world at a time when the region is already in tumult. President Obama would be put in the position of threatening to veto recognition of the aspirations of most Palestinians or risk alienating Israel and its political supporters in the United States.
Is this the way the administration wished to be portrayed? They sound panicked. But worse than that, the administration effort is doomed to failure. Abbas got what he wanted when President Obama prevailed upon PM Netanyahu to freeze building in communities in Judea and Samaria. Abbas still refused to negotiate until the last few weeks of the freeze and, by then, nothing would come of those negotiations. The PA's strategy is based on the belief that they are not going to get what they want from negotiations, so they're looking to get what they want by forcing it from Israel - using the UN. So how is pushing for negotiations going to forestall the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI)?
And the final sentence of the paragraph pits the aspirations of the Palestinians against the wishes of Israel and its supporters. What a clever way to express sympathy for one side against the other. Why didn't Myers and Landler write "risk alienating the powerful pro-Israel lobby" so they could be clearer?
Maybe instead of seeking to placate its enemies the administration should be seeking to pressure them?
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has introduced a bill that would threaten American funding for the UN if the Palestinian measure passes.Of course the New York Times didn't mention this effort in the article about the administration's efforts to thwart the UDI.
Ros-Lehtinen spokesman Brad Goehner told The Cable today that the expected Palestinian statehood drive at the U.N. General Assembly next month was a major factor in the timing of the bill's introduction.
"Chairman Ros-Lehtinen felt it was important to introduce the bill, which includes a title withholding U.S. funding to U.N. entities which upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission, in advance of the Palestinian Authority's statehood push at the U.N.," Goehner said.
The bill would also withhold funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which aids Palestinian refugees, call for the United States to lead a high-level U.N. effort for "the revocation and repudiation" of the Goldstone Report, and pull the United States out of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which commissioned the Goldstone Report and has historically been critical of Israel.
More broadly, the bill would shift U.S. contributions to the United Nations to a "voluntary basis," rather than have them follow the compulsory assessed fees system that is in place now. If the United Nations doesn't get 80 percent of its money from voluntary contributions, the bill would then require the United State to cut its contribution by 50 percent.
The bill would also halt new U.S. contributions to U.N. peacekeeping missions until reforms are implemented, and institute a new regime of reporting requirements and auditing powers for examining U.S. contributions to the United Nations.
Defenders of the UN are quoted saying that Ros-Lehtinen's bill would reduce American leverage at the UN. The same argument was used by the administration for participating in the UN Human Rights Council. American participation exerted zero influence over that body. Why should America fund a corrupt institution that works against its interests?
In 1989, Yasser Arafat’s PLO also pushed for membership for a “Palestinian state” in UN entities. The PLO’s strategy looked unstoppable until the George H.W. Bush administration made clear that the U.S. would cut off funding to any UN entity that upgraded the status of the Palestinian observer mission in any way. The UN was forced to choose between isolating Israel and receiving U.S. contributions, and they chose the latter. The PLO’s unilateral campaign was stopped in its tracks.
This example demonstrates a simple but needed lesson: At the UN, money talks, and smart withholding works.
With Arafat’s successors up to the same tricks today, the U.S. response must be as strong. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has consistently refused to use our strongest leverage — our financial contributions — to advance U.S. interests at the UN. If the executive branch will not demonstrate leadership on this issue, Congress must fill the void.
The Ros-Lehtinen bill stipulates that the lion’s share of the U.N. budget be moved from mandatory to voluntary funding. This would fundamentally alter the current system, under which the United States simply is informed what it must pay each year. Under the one-country, one-vote procedures at the United Nations, the United States has no more say over the budget than does tiny Tuvalu. The budget can be passed by two-thirds of the U.N. General Assembly (129 nations) that collectively could pay less than 1 percent of all dues over the objection of the United States, which pays 22 times that amount. Moving toward voluntary funding would lessen the likelihood that United States taxpayers’ dollars could be used to support anti-Israel initiatives such as the Durban conference or the notorious Goldstone report.
Moreover, voluntary dues would encourage more efficiency at U.N. agencies that have become accustomed to automatic funding and lack any real incentives to economize or compete. On Monday, a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Joseph M. Torsella, complained that plans to increase the salaries of U.N. employees by 3 percent were “inappropriate at this time of fiscal austerity.” Apparently, no one at the United Nations understands the meaning of the word “austerity.” Incredibly, the U.N.’s budget has increased faster than the federal government’s in the last ten years, despite the United States’ bearing the majority of the cost for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The bill would also withhold funds from the embarrassing Human Rights Council until it removes from its committee those nations listed as human-rights abusers, known sponsors of terrorism, violators of religious freedom, and those currently under sanctions — a commonsense initiative that could only possibly be controversial at the world body, which sees nothing amiss in North Korea’s serving on the proliferation committee.
When explained like that it makes lots of sense. Is the administration listening?
2) International law and the ham sandwich
Former Judge Saul Wachtler of the New York Court of Appeals, apparently coined the phrase that a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. Wachtler's point was that a prosecutor had enormous influence over the grand jury.
I wonder if the same could be said about the UN and international law. When members of the UN declare that something is against international law, that seems to be accepted as a truism.
The flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats was carrying 10,000 tons of aid for Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas holds sway, in an attempt to challenge Israel’s military blockade of Gaza.
The raid and its deadly consequences have thrown Israel’s policy of blockading Gaza into the international limelight; at the Security Council on Monday voices were raised against the blockade, and the pressure to abandon it is bound to intensify.
Israel had vowed not to let the flotilla reach the shores of Gaza, which Hamas, an organization sworn to Israel’s destruction, took over in 2007.
Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese ambassador, said even the laws of war require the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Several envoys said Israel was in violation of international law, not least because Security Council resolution 1860, passed in January 2009 during the Gaza war, had called for ending the blockade and opening unfettered access to humanitarian assistance throughout the strip. The diplomats also demanded immediate access to their citizens, with some 32 different nationalities among the estimated 600 to 700 people on the flotilla. Israel seized all six ships and forced them into port.
A long-awaited United Nations review of Israel’s 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla in which nine passengers were killed has found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is both legal and appropriate. But it said that the way Israeli forces boarded the vessels trying to break that blockade 15 months ago was excessive and unreasonable.
I wonder if the UN would ever be as eager to declare a ham sandwich in violation of international as it is to declare the same about Israel?
Arab American Institute accuses Ros-Lehtinen of dual loyalty
Unbelievable.
The Arab American Institute accuses the sitting chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl), of dual loyalty, for her bill calling for accountability from the United Nations.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has unveiled her UN reform bill yesterday, conditioning US funding to the UN on UN acquiescence to efforts undermining Palestinian rights. The bill would “block US funding of any UN entity that upgrades the status of the Palestinians before the […] conflict is resolved, ban contributions to [UNRWA] until UN policies are changed, and […] withhold a portion of U.S. funds based on the HRC budget until […] the termination of a permanent investigation into Israel's human rights record.” US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice was not happy with this legislation, telling Ros-Lehtinen, “There's no question that when the United States is in debt to the United Nations, when we fail to meet our treaty obligations to pay our assessed contributions, that our influence is diminished, our standing is injured, and our ability to pursue important initiatives that advance US national security and US national interest is gravely undermined.” Whether Israel-Firsters (as MJ Rosenberg calls them) like Ros-Lehtinen will bother to heed Rice’s cautions is doubtful.
The same accusations - of favoring someone else's interests over the United States' interests - could certainly be thrown at them.
On Monday, I reported on a bill introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) to cut off funding for the United Nations in the event that it upgrades the status of the 'Palestinian' mission to the United Nations. There's actually a lot more to the bill than that - I am embedding a summary issued by Ros-Lehtinen's office below. As you will see, the bill would also seek to:
1. Make UN funding voluntary.
2. Allow the GAO to audit the use of US contributions to the UN (and allow funding only to UN agencies who pledge to cooperate in such audits).
3. Require the State Department to report to Congress on UN reform and personnel practices.
4. The 'Palestinian' provision I discussed on Monday.
5. Several measures that would nullify the Goldstone Report.
6. Takes the US off the 'Human Rights Council' until its membership is cleaned up.
7. Withholds funding from the Durban process.
8. Withholds funding from UNRWA.
9. Seeks to reform the IAEA to make it better able to monitor member states' compliance.
10. Reforms UN peacekeeping.
The full summary is below (2-page Word document). I have more about this after the fold.
The State Department said it was opposed to Ros-Lehtinen's legislation to revamp UN funding because, as spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, it would "seriously undermine our international standing and dangerously weaken the UN as an instrument to advance US national security goals."
"We believe in U.N. reform, we just don't think that this is the right way to go about it," Nuland said. The United States called on Monday for the rescinding of a nearly 3 percent cost of living pay increase to almost 5,000 UN employees in New York, saying it was inappropriate at a time of austerity.
Jonathan Tobin reports that the White House is opposed as well and will cause the Senate to oppose Ros-Lehtinen's bill.
But while Ros-Lehtinen’s bill is likely to pass the House, it will face a rough time in the Senate due to opposition from the White House. An administration source told Politico: “This draft legislation is dated, tired, and frankly unresponsive to the positive role being played by the UN.” This raises the question: is President Obama willing to head into a re-election contest flying the flag of the UN?
The White House claims Republican critics of the UN are ignoring the positive role the institution has played in Afghanistan and Libya. It argues that American influence at the world body is maximized when the U.S. is fully engaged and paying the 22 percent of the UN’s budget that flows from Washington. But Obama’s “don’t worry, be happy” approach to the UN has done nothing to convince its members to stop trying to kill the peace process by voting to recognize an independent Palestinian state without first requiring it to make peace with Israel. Nor has the administration used its supposedly weighty influence at Turtle Bay to transform UNRWA or the Human Rights Council, both of which exist primarily in order to perpetuate the Arab war against Israel. Despite progress on some fronts, the UN and its affiliate agencies remain a cesspool of anti-Semitism and bias against Israel as the upcoming Durban III UN conference (which, to its credit, the administration plans to boycott) proves yet again.
The US pays anywhere from 22% (general) to 27% (peacekeeping) of the UN's budget. For 2010, the US contribution came to more than $3.8 billion, and for 2011, the Obama administration has requested nearly $4.3 billion. Given the current economic crisis in the US, it is incredible to me that an organization that does so much that is anathema to the American people, and which has been shown to be corrupt so many times in the past, is given such huge amounts of American taxpayer money without any oversight.
And Obama's friend Rashid Khalidi is worried about $3 billion that is given to Israel, with whom the US shares democratic values, and most of which is spent in the US anyway.
Republicans need to get behind this bill and either push it through or make the Democrats pay a heavy political price for its failure.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen knows just how to deal with the 'Palestinian' bid for 'statehood' at the United Nations: Threaten their funding.
In 1989, Yasser Arafat’s PLO also pushed for membership for a “Palestinian state” in UN entities. The PLO’s strategy looked unstoppable until the George H.W. Bush administration made clear that the U.S. would cut off funding to any UN entity that upgraded the status of the Palestinian observer mission in any way. The UN was forced to choose between isolating Israel and receiving U.S. contributions, and they chose the latter. The PLO’s unilateral campaign was stopped in its tracks.
This example demonstrates a simple but needed lesson: At the UN, money talks, and smart withholding works.
With Arafat’s successors up to the same tricks today, the U.S. response must be as strong. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has consistently refused to use our strongest leverage — our financial contributions — to advance U.S. interests at the UN. If the executive branch will not demonstrate leadership on this issue, Congress must fill the void.
I will soon introduce the United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act, which will reflect the executive branch’s previous successful policies by cutting off U.S. contributions to any UN entity that grants membership or any other upgraded status to the Palestinian observer mission. This legislation will also leverage U.S. taxpayer dollars to make sure they do not fund biased or wasteful UN activities, and to achieve other much-needed reforms that will make the UN more transparent, accountable, objective, and effective.
It is time to use all our leverage to stop this unilateral Palestinian scheme — for the sake of our ally Israel and all free democracies, for the sake of peace and security, and for the sake of achieving a UN that upholds its founding principles.
There's one small problem: George H.W. Bush (also known as Bush I, Bush 41 or Bush the Father) was not a great lover of Israel. Obama makes him look like one. Can anyone really see Obama NOT vetoing this bill? I suppose Congress can refuse to fund UN activities, but I doubt that will stop Obama and Clinton from continuing to do so.
Study confirms US aid to 'Palestinian Authority' is counterproductive
Veterans of Israel's intelligence community have issued a report (not the one pictured) that indicates that the $4 billion in US aid provided to the 'Palestinian Authority' since 1994 has been counterproductive.
However, a current study of Abu Mazen's and Salam Fayyad's school text books – conducted by veterans of Israel's Intelligence community – reaffirms that the $4 billion US foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority has been counter-productive. It has not inclined Palestinians towards peaceful coexistence, and it has not moderated Palestinian terrorism. In fact, since the 1994 inception of foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian terrorism has escalated, Palestinian non-compliance has become pervasive and support of peace among Palestinians has ebbed.
The study reconfirms that Palestinian school text books lay the groundwork for the next wave of Palestinian terrorism (Intifada); encourage Palestinian mothers to dedicate their children to suicide-bombing ("martyrdom"); idolize Jihad ("holy war"), bloodshed and families of suicide-bombers; promote the Palestinization of pre-1967 Israel as the overriding national goal; define Israel's establishment as an immoral and illegitimate act to be rescinded; eliminate any reference to Jewish roots within pre-1967 Israel; are devoid of any reference to peaceful coexistence; are consistent with the PLO's Palestinian Covenant which calls for the annihilation of Israel; delegitimize the existence – and not just the size – of the Jewish State; and cement the state of mind of the Palestinian society.
For example, "Our Beautiful Language" (7th grade, part 2, pp. 11-13): "We shall sow Palestine with [martyrs'] skeletons and skulls; we shall paint the face of Palestine with blood, but Palestine shall wash our face with heavenly water.…" "Our Beautiful Language" (7th grade, part 1,pp 28-29): "We are returning home to the plains and the mountains [of pre-1967 Israel], led by Jihad flags, by bloody struggles and by the willingness to sacrifice ourselves as martyrs…." "Islam" (8th grade, p. 46): The relevance to contemporary reality of historic Islamic conquests, including the 7th century victory over the Jewish tribe, Banu Qunaika, which was "slaughtered, raped and imprisoned." "Our Beautiful Language" (8th grade, part 1): "Our beloved Palestine is calling me; the orphaned cities [in pre-1967 Israel] yearn for me to return and rectify the [1948] blunder with storms and lightning…." "Islamic Studies" (8th grade, part 2 pp 62-75): "Jihad reserves a key role for youngsters, just like those who sought martyrdom during the days of the Prophet Muhammed….
...
Thus, while it is illegal for Congress to appropriate funds to hate-education in the USA, Congress has annually funded Abu Mazen's hate-education.
In 1994, Arafat assigned his loyal confidant of 50 years, Abu Mazen to establish the Palestinian hate-education system. Since January 2005 – upon replacing Arafat, and irrespective of his moderate style – Abu Mazen has perpetuated the anti-Jewish, anti-Israel and anti-US hate-education.
Inspired by his holocaust denial Ph.D. from Moscow University, the Abu Mazen system has promoted Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and the Soviet anti-Semitic "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", which are best-sellers in the PA.
Thanks to foreign aid, Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad authorize monthly allowances to families of “martyrs”/terrorists. They pay condolences visits to families of suicide bombers and name soccer tournaments, summer camps, streets and squares after notorious terrorists.
Abu Mazen's and Fayyad's educational legacy - and not their dialogue with Israeli and Western leaders and journalists – reflects most authentically their identity, ideology, strategy and vision.
Sustaining foreign aid to the PA would convince Abu Mazen that he can get away with hate-education and even be rewarded for it.
But no one in the Obama administration is going to agree to cut off aid to the 'Palestinian Authority.' In fact, an effort by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl) to condition aid to the 'Palestinians' and to certain countries on meeting certain performance standards has been greeted with hostility by Secretary of State Clinton. And so, the United States will continue to finance jihad and hatred.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
