Why US Brags About Arms for Ukraine But Keeps Israel Aid on Hush-Hush
© AFP 2023 / DEBBIE HILL
Subscribe
Despite the Biden administration vociferously announcing what weapons systems it is about to supply to Ukraine, it keeps its lips buttoned when it comes to military aid to Israel. What is it trying to hide?
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged that Washington's military supplies to Israel are shrouded in secrecy in an October 23 press briefing, saying: "We’re being careful not to quantify or get into too much detail about what they’re getting — for their own operational security purposes, of course."
This approach comes in sharp contrast with Washington's bragging about sending sophisticated weapons to Kiev, starting with Javelins and ending with air defense systems and long-range missiles.
"The difference is there is much more directly at stake for the US both militarily and politically in the Middle East," retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense, told Sputnik. "The US/Israel war against Hamas and Hezbollah extends to the well-armed and well-allied Syria (where we [the US] have illegal troops located), Yemen, Iran, Lebanon, and an enraged Turkiye. US forces are operating in close proximity to Israel's enemies, both state and non-state."
"On the other hand, in Ukraine, no US ships, fleets, bases, or other physical locations were at even minor risk from Russian (or false flag Ukrainian) targeting or attack. Politically, beyond alarming direct conflict with NATO member Turkiye on this issue, the US is on thin ice with erstwhile allies in the Saudi, Kuwaiti, Qatari and other ruling classes that we generally deal with in a friendly, if arrogant, manner," she continued.
Kwiatkowski went on to say that supplies to Ukraine were widely publicized in advance and usually also on delivery because this information meant to:
· First, encourage NATO and its members to step up to the plate, and believe that the US was "committed."
· Second, to send a message to the Russians that we are seriously "invested" in Ukraine as a NATO outpost.
At the same time, it was also a message to the US military-industrial complex that it needs to get new orders in, as the Pentagon was "cleaning out the old and buying new," according to the retired lieutenant colonel.
The Biden administration's openness about its military deliveries to Ukraine also fit well into the US establishment's narrative that "Americans are helping liberal democratic freedom fighters against a bad old Russia," she noted, adding that "Ukraine for a time had the support of the mainstream Democratic and Republican leadership."
8 November 2023, 13:01 GMT
Why Political and Military Dynamic in Israel is Different
"This is not the political or military dynamic in Israel, for a number of reasons," Kwiatkowski said. "Militarily, Israel has one of the top militaries of the world, and can fight both insurgencies and traditional air-land-sea war, effectively and brutally. Politically, Ukraine's leader was our puppet, but the US government tends to serve Tel Aviv and bows to Bibi Netanyahu."
"This is obvious to every nation on the planet – except to Americans, many of whom have a special adoration for Israel as an idea, and also as a tough little scrappy state that gets what it wants, and makes stuff happen. This image of Israel is well-ingrained in the US psyche. For over four decades, many billions in aid and exceptions have been made by the US taxpayer, private US sources, and the diplomatic arm of the US. This is much longer than Ukraine has even been an independent country."
Team Biden appears to walk a tightrope between Israel, which has a considerable lobby in DC as well as personal and religious ties to people in the American foreign policy leadership, and the countries of the Muslim world, some of which has most recently put Secretary of State Antony Blinken in embarrassing situations. Thus, the Saudi Arabia royal family kept Blinken waiting for hours, while in Turkiye Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan rejected the US secretary of state's attempt to hug him ahead of the talks.
To add to the controversy, the Democratic Party's Black and Latino voters, as well as progressives, have long been sympathetic to Palestinians. Per the US mainstream press, President Joe Biden's enthusiastic support to conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Tel Aviv amid the Gaza war have been met with sharp criticism from the Democratic base. Given Biden's already plummeting approval numbers, his further backing of Israel may cost him victory, some media warn.
6 November 2023, 14:30 GMT
Is the US Providing Israel With Its Crown Control and Urban Warfare Tech?
Meanwhile, even though the Biden administration initially declined to identify any specific weapons systems, it has gradually acknowledged some. These include "precision guided munitions, small diameter bombs, artillery, ammunition, Iron Dome interceptors and other critical equipment," as Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder has said. The question then arises as to what this "other critical equipment" could be.
"I would expect that some of this includes US crowd control and urban warfare technologies, used in conjunction with US Special Forces in urban warfare roles," Kwiatkowski said. "There are US advances in this area, and this kind of weaponry and tactics are associated with domestically unpopular US tactical policing, anti-terror responses, and lockdown practices. In the US, these are associated with civil rights violations, and police misconduct. Publicizing this kind of aid exposes more hypocrisy and gives ammunition to growing voices in the US that worry that our government is itself becoming a terrorist operation."
Still, the former Pentagon analyst suspects that Israel already has the latest technologies. She explained that in the past, Tel Aviv managed to acquire the best available tech and weaponry on the global market, and has a domestic industry that can build, modify and upgrade many categories of weaponry.
"Financially, Israel has the cash, credit and engineering skills to get what it wants, as we have seen with its recent and past admissions of nuclear capability," she pointed out.
Recently, a US media outlet shed light on American Special Ops forces operating in Israel, suggesting that "several dozen commandos" could now be on the ground. Another US online publication earlier revealed that Washington had been expanding its classified secret base in Israel prior to the Gaza war.
1 November 2023, 15:29 GMT
'Out of Control Hypocrisy' of US and NATO
Another reason for keeping mum on its military aid to Israel could be "military survival of our many assets in the Middle East that are or may become targets by a wide range of actors," according to Kwiatkowski.
"It is partly an attempt to tamp down on the many domestic questions in the US and the world, regarding what game the US is really playing – because certainly the US reaction to a threat to Israel is helping clarify the devilish US war game in Ukraine," she said.
The military expert continued that "one worrying aspect is the possibility of direct military contact between US aircraft and Turkish, Russian and other air forces and air defense capabilities throughout the Middle East."
"Another worrying aspect is what an increasingly confused, isolated and desperate Israel may do to expedite the cleansing of Gaza and getting that situation off the front pages," she suggested.
On top of that, Washington policymakers may feel uneasy given that their support to Israel comes amid massive protests in Europe against skyrocketing civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.
"Can NATO exist with this out of control hypocrisy – can it hold together as Europe riots against NATO, and Turkiye condemns Israel and US policies?" the retired lieutenant colonel asked rhetorically.
