Posted on 09/15/2003 3:17:50 PM PDT by PatrioticCowboy
U.S. to Withhold Some Funds from Israel
Mon September 15, 2003 04:24 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Monday it planned to withhold some funds from Israel because of its settlement activities in Palestinian areas.
The deductions would come from a $9 billion package of U.S. loan guarantees to help Israel weather a deep recession and fiscal crisis.
But administration officials said they have yet to decide whether to penalize Israel for building a fence through the West Bank. Congressional aides doubted the White House would carry out that threat.
Under legislation authorizing the loan guarantees, the United States would deduct from the face value of the loan guarantees an amount equal to any Israeli spending on settlement activities in Palestinian areas.
An administration official said those deductions were consistent with past U.S. policies. He did not specify an amount that would be deducted or when it would take place.
"We can't preclude any deductions (for fence construction). That is still a matter for discussion," the official added.
President Bush has called the fence "a problem" because it makes it hard to develop a contiguous Palestinian state.
Israel and its allies in Congress argue that expenditures on the security fence should not be deducted from the loan guarantees.
Israel wants the barrier -- in sections a concrete wall and in others metal fencing -- to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers. Palestinians describe it as a new "Berlin Wall" that grabs territory they want to be part of an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel and its allies in Congress argue that expenditures on the security fence should not be deducted from the loan guarantees.
Bush on Monday designed Secretary of State Colin Powell to oversee the loan program.
His post was: "After 6 months of intelligence gathering and informant tips follow-ups, we have been unable to establish whether there are loose WMD's around.
We should be very worried.
It sounds like Saddam sold the weapons to interested parties already, hid some of them in Syria, and buried the rest. He must have had a limited number of them, otherwise their movement would have been detected.
At any rate, I think they will not be found, at this point.
We should be really worried. If they were sold to Iran,Syria, Egypt covertly, to buy protection for his escape, there will be trouble down the line.
The scenarios are grim"
What if we have information that Iraq's WMD are in another (or even more than one) nonfriendly country? Maybe that is why we are keeping as much resistance on Israel as possible? If they take out Arafat, maybe we know they will be hit from at LEAST one direction?
It is a plausable thought. Why the delay in the WMD info? Why try to keep Israel from defending herself?
I'm wondering how they reconcile their title
U.S. to Withhold Some Funds from Israel
with the body of the story:
But administration officials said they have yet to decide whether to penalize Israel for building a fence through the West Bank. Congressional aides doubted the White House would carry out that threat.
So, the administration hasn't decided yet, and aides doubt that they even would. So it sounds like the typical diplomatic posturing that goes on over there every day.
Get back to me when something actually happens.
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