“A Good Day for World Peace”
That is the sentence President Biden used to describe the day he signed into law the $95 billion aid package Congress approved this week. It includes $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine, $26 billion in aid to Israel–$9 billion of that ostensibly for humanitarian aid to Gaza–and $8 billion to U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific aimed at countering China.
Biden's remark is a work of comedic gold. The senile, geriatric Commander-in-Chief– an ironically perfect analogy for the Washington establishment–is pouring gasoline on the fire claiming the act will save the neighborhood.
Fine Weather in the Inferno Today, Is It Not?
The war in Ukraine will very likely end with the defeat of Kiev, millions of civilians displaced and more than a half million young men fertilizing the black earth beneath the sunflower fields. CIA director Bill Burns would seem to agree. Despite this grim reality, peace talks are rarely mentioned and Russia's motivation is demonized by the media as if it is sacrificing its male youth and transforming its economy for fun. Instead of working toward diplomatic solutions or peace, the U.S. has followed the path beset by warmonger politicians and defense contractors banging the drums of war for the sake of profit and preserving ‘rules-based order’. $61 billion–in addition to the $75 billion of years past– in military aid is unlikely to do anything but extend Ukrainian suffering for months, maybe years. Once the aid inevitably dries up, so too will the waning Ukrainian defense.
Israel intercepted 99% of the threats it faced from Iran on April 13 and has had minimal losses in its invasion of the Gaza Strip. It manufactures many of its own weapon systems. Moreover, it is ostensibly a sovereign nation yet it receives more attention and aid than U.S. territories such as the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Much of this influence can be attributed to the clout of AIPAC. Israel does not need the aid, it wants it. It seeks aid because it fears further escalation with Iran, which it knows will be costly. This escalation was avoidable and was entirely provoked by Israeli aggression, yet Americans picked up the check.
The Israeli desire for aid is to supplement the cost of war to avoid consequences from its voter base. Withholding aid from Israel would serve to temper its military action and to prevent hawkish belligerence, i.e. keep a paperweight on peace in the region. Instead, the bipartisan majority of Congress– consistent in its blind support of Israel–has ensured that no such pressure will be placed on the Jewish state.
Taiwan produces a large portion of the world’s semiconductors 92% of the world's advanced microchips, much of which the U.S.-led world economy relies on. It is also the largest island in the first island chain off the coast of China. Taiwanese are ethnically Han (Chinese), they speak Mandarin and are culturally Chinese. Their break with the mainland dates to 1949. Essentially, Taiwan is the last bastion for the losers of the Chinese Civil War. There is no U.S. embassy there, it is not internationally recognized. This is because China claims this island, as well as the entirety of the South China Sea.
Yet because the U.S. looks to continue its global hegemony, it will do anything to prevent China from fulfilling its dream of the ‘One China’ policy, which would see Taiwan under Beijing's regime and the global economy transformed overnight.
Who Needs an Extinguisher Anyways?
Of the three destinations for this aid, countering China is the most justifiable. The U.S. economy relies heavily on the economic benefits of the alliance with Taiwan; Chinese control of the island would certainly shake things up. China’s growing strength can directly affect the U.S. in ways the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Israel-Iran conflict can not. Yet those two conflicts combined are allocated 91% of the aid package, leaving Taiwan the crumbs.
The idea that injecting billions into the Russo-Ukrainian War and supporting Israeli belligerence is a means to achieve or maintain world peace is both unrealistic and duplicitous. A nation that cannot fund its own war is not sovereign, it is subservient to whichever power funds it. Funding Ukrainian defense is a claim to its future, which NATO seems to desire.
April 24, 2024 was not a great day for world peace, however, it was a great day for warmongers, Zionists and American defense contractors.
Acknowledgment: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author.