"Moral Insanity": Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel by Ms Julia Conley!
(2023-12-11 at 00:24:30 )

"Moral Insanity": Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel by Ms Julia Conley!

"Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress," said one critic.

Hours after United States Ambassador Robert Wood on Friday acted alone to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the Biden administration again illustrated its growing isolation in continuing to back Israels onslaught as it bypassed Congress to send more weapons to the countrys extreme right-wing government.

The United States Defense Department posted a notice online Saturday saying United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken had informed Congress that a government sale of 13,000 rounds of tank ammunition was moving forward, even though Congress had not completed an informal review of the transaction.

The State Department invoked an emergency provision of the Arms Control Export Act to bypass the review process generally required for weapons sales to foreign nations. The sale, which Congress has no power to stop now that the provision has been invoked, was valued at more than $106 million.

"Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress, emboldens Netanyahu to kill more Palestinian civilians, and furthers stains our nations standing in the world," said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Mitchell noted that the sale was finalized as media outlets confirmed Israeli tanks have "deliberately targeted and slaughtered journalists in Lebanon."

"The Biden administrations decision is an affront to democracy and an act of moral insanity," he said.

The State Department notified congressional committees of the sale around 11:00 pm EST Friday, hours after a new Pew Research poll showed that only 35% of United States of Americans support the Biden administrations backing of Israels attacks on Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces have now killed more than 17,700 Palestinians in Gaza in just over two months, while claiming they are targeting Hamas.

Thirteen members of the United Nations Security Council on Friday voted in favor of a humanitarian cease-fire, while the United Kingdom abstained from voting. The United States vetoed the resolution in a move CAIR condemned as "unconscionable."

"It is not clear what level of suffering by the Palestinian people would prompt our nations leaders to act in their defense," said CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad.

Also on Saturday, the global charity Save the Children warned that at least 7,685 children under age five in Gaza are now so malnourished-a result of Israels total blockade of the enclave that began in October and the delivery of just a small fraction of the aid that is needed—that they require "urgent medical treatment to avoid death."

"The repeated failure of the international community to act signifies a death knell to children," said Jason Lee, country director for Save the Children. "I have seen children and families roaming the streets of what has not been flattened in Gaza, with no food, nowhere to go, and nothing to survive on. Even the internationally-funded humanitarian aid response-Gazas last lifeline-has been choked by Israeli-imposed restrictions."

"Gazas children are being condemned to further bombardment, starvation, and disease," said Lee. "We must heed the lessons from the past and must immediately prevent "atrocity crimes" from unfolding."

The intensifying opposition to Israels United States- and United Kingdom-backed bombardment of Gaza was made apparent by an estimated 15,000-20,000 people who marched through London on Saturday to demand a cease-fire.

"We will continue to march," said the Stop the War Coalition, "until there is a cease-fire and justice for the Palestinians."

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