We’re Overtaxed, We’re Sending Too Much in Foreign Military Aid; We Should Be Working to Build Global Peace, Not Escalating Global Wars

What about Americans? What about our needs? Why is the U.S. government still giving billions in foreign military aid? These are questions typically asked by pro-protectionist, pro-nationalist political right-wing idealogues who support a non-interventionist approach to foreign policy.

But average traditionally non-political Americans are now also saying the same in light of President Joe Biden’s latest request to Congress of $105 billion mostly to go towards supporting the wars in Ukraine and Israel.

The breakdown of Biden’s supplemental funding request is $60 billion for Ukraine, specifically for replenishing weapons, $14 billion for Israel, specifically for air and missile defense systems, and the rest for border security, humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and a variety of initiatives geared toward countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Total U.S. support to Ukraine and Israel
So far, Congress has approved about $113 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to calculations by the US State Department Office of Inspector General and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Regarding Israel, it has been receiving 30% of all U.S. foreign aid annually. Each year it receives close to $4 billion. According to the Poyner Institute’s POLTIFACTS, since the end of World War II, the U.S. has cumulatively provided Israel with almost $318 billion in aid of all types, including military, economic and humanitarian.

The BBC reports over the years the U.S. aid has helped Israel develop one of the most advanced militaries in the world.  With U.S. aid, the BBC says Israel has spent that money to buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers like 50 F-35 combat aircrafts, eight Kc-46A Boeing Pegasus aircrafts, and missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.

To make this clearer: 1) Congress gives billions in military aid to for example Israel, 2) Israel buys billions in missiles and aircrafts from U.S. arms manufacturers, 3) U.S. arms manufacturers spend billions to lobby Congress, and 4) thousands of Americans (including some members of Congress) invest in war stocks and make a profit. Since the outbreak of war in Israel-Palestine, war stocks have gone up by 30%.  You see how special interests are at work in Congress.

What about us?
While billions of U.S. taxpayers’ money enriches special interest groups and investors (we are not even arguing the assumed “benefits” geopolitically to the U.S. which is debatable), the average American taxpayers are raising valid concerns that our government always has unlimited money – almost no questions asked – for wars, but not enough money for our domestic needs.

We have inadequate support for Maui relief, healthcare, the homeless, American children who go hungry, climate change, border security, Social Security, Medicare, workforce retraining, education, affordable housing, and countless other areas.

Furthermore, Americans are overtaxed – federal taxes, state taxes, county taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, taxes on utilities passed on to homeowners and renters, and on and on.

It was only recently before the war that the government was close to a shutdown because Republicans were worried about the national debt, national spending.

And here we are about to pass possibly a multibillion dollars supplemental funding package in military aid which is separate from the overall budget that once again will be argued in mid-November. And if spending is not agreed upon, the government faces a shutdown.

President Biden says our support for Israel is a good investment. He should explain how that investment trumps investing in the rebuilding of Maui or investing in climate change that would help to prevent incidences like the Maui wildfires from happening again.

Biden should explain how that “investment” in Ukraine – which many military analysts have already said is a war lost on the ground and why we will now be sending long range missiles among other weapons to possibly launch an offensive into Russia, an escalation of war that the U.S. said it would not do – is a greater priority than bolstering support for the fragile Medicare and Social Security programs.

Potential for more money dedicated to global wars
Long-term commitments should also be considered at this very moment.

At this juncture in the global wars the U.S. supports, Biden is asking for over $100 billion. This the third round of war money requested for Ukraine.

What happens should war expands, and the U.S. finds itself in a massive regional conflict in the Middle East that will have the U.S. defending Israel against not just Hamas and other terror/resistance groups, but countries like Iran, Syria and Turkey?

Without a doubt, the billions Congress is already funding will need to increase exponentially to fund a trillion dollars war. Can we afford that? And at what expense? Less money for domestic needs and less money for “real” investments that could go directly to helping Americans and bolstering our domestic economy.

Frankly, Americans are tired of a long, drawn-out war in the Middle East. We’ve done that already with Iraq and Syria for two decades. Instead of Biden saying we’re behind Israel 100 percent, a responsible world leader should be working to build bridges and peace that will benefit everyone, especially save billions in dollars for American taxpayers. And members of Congress who hold special interests above the American people’s interests should be voted out.

Americans are watching closely. Americans are far more sophisticated in how the world works than we were during the Iraq wars. Politicians should know this.