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The United States will sell Israel 5,000 smart bombs, for $319 million, according to a report made to Congress a few weeks ago. The funding will come from the U.S. military aid to Israel, and the bombs range from airborne versions, guidance units, training bombs and detonators. The bombs are guided by satellite, in a system already in the Israel Defense Forces arsenal. The guidance unit receives a signal from a satellite, correcting the bomb's course to the target. The Pentagon told Congress that the bombs are meant to maintain Israel's qualitative advantage, and advance U.S. strategic and tactical interests....

The House yesterday rejected a $570 million cut in U.S. military aid to Egypt after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell issued a last-minute warning to lawmakers that the action would damage relations with a close Middle East ally "at a very sensitive moment in the region." Although the 287 to 131 vote was lopsided, the administration and military contractors who sell U.S.-financed weaponry to Egypt took seriously the threat of a cut and worked behind the scenes to head it off. Before the vote, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice made calls to some lawmakers, who were also on notice...

<p>TIMBUKTU, Mali -- U.S. Green Berets ran mock ambushes Wednesday in the sand dunes of central Mali, where Malian troops fired blanks at a pretend enemy -- and shouted "bang! bang!" when the blanks ran out.</p> <p>The exercise is part of a months-long American effort to train troops in Mali and three other impoverished West African nations where Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida are alleged to have operated. The Associated Press was among the first media allowed to observe.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. military cargo planes have been delivering food, blankets and other supplies to forces in Chad as they have fought Islamic militants there, and American surveillance aircraft have helped monitor and track the militants, officials said Friday. The Chadian army battled Islamic militants near a remote village on the country's western border with Niger this week, killing 43 members of a group suspected of links with al-Qaida, the Chadian government said Friday. Three soldiers were also killed, the government said. In Washington, the militants were identified by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher as the Salafist Group for...

US privatises its military aid to Georgia Nick Paton Walsh in Tbilisi Tuesday January 6, 2004 The Guardian The Pentagon is to privatise its military presence in Georgia by contracting a team of retired US military officers to equip and advise the former Soviet republic's crumbling military, embellishing an eastward expansion that has enraged Moscow. After a Georgian appeal for support to the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, during a visit last month, a team of 20-30 private defence consultants are already in Tbilisi. Their employer, a Washington security firm, Cubic, has a three-year $15m contract with the Pentagon to...

The US wants North African nations to be firm against terrorism US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said the US is to double military aid to Morocco, on a visit to the kingdom. US economic aid will be boosted four-fold over the coming years - a reward for Morocco's support in the US-led war against terror. Mr Powell was speaking in Marrakesh, during a brief tour of North Africa. He later stressed the importance of press freedom, broad political participation and respect for human rights on a visit to Algeria. The visits to Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria are...

Saudi Arabia - Continued Modernization of the Saudi Arabian National Guard (Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Nov. 21, 2003) [With thanks to www.defense-aerospace.com ] On 20 November 2003, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of modernization support services for the Saudi Arabian National Guard as well as associated equipment. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $990 million. The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of services for the continuation of the U.S. supported effort to modernize the Saudi...

Nov. 4, 2003 Congress to approve $2.22 billion for Israel By JPOST.COM STAFF Israel is to receive $2.22 billion in military assistance in 2005, $60 million more than in 2004 pending Congress' approval. A 1990s agreement reduces economic assistance to Israel by $120 million a year while adding $60 million a year to the military component of the package. The US State Department issued a statement, reaffirming President Bush's commitment to Israel's security.

The United States aims to secure agreements "with every country in the world" guaranteeing immunity for its citizens from any prosecution from the new International Criminal Court (ICC), and will cut off military aid to countries which do not comply. In an uncompromising defence of Washington's decision to shun the court, Under Secretary of State John Bolton announced yesterday that the US has already reached so-called Article 98 exemption agreements, under the Rome statutes setting up the ICC, with 70 countries; 50 of them among the ICC's 90 signatories. Speaking at the conservative thinktank, the American Enterprise Institute, Mr Bolton...

Over 100 mutilated bodies in ten days and there wasn’t anything that could have been done about it. That was the brutal discovery of the French peacekeepers in Bunia and Tchomia in the African nation of Congo. The bodies were of refugees who were trying to flee the violence that has plagued the country for years. This is a perfect example of the impotency of the United Nations and their limited idea of mandated peacekeeping. And they want us in Liberia. The UN mandate limits the French peacekeeper’s role to defending the city, or by our standards the village of...

"Africa has always been on the bottom of the list as far as America's priorities," said Maria Nzomo, director of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies at the University of Nairobi. "How is this president going to help us?" That would be the wrong question to ask. The correct question would be, “How is the president going to help us help ourselves?” With all the tongue wagging we are hearing from the mainstream media and the liberal-left about what we have to do for Liberia, what we are obligated to commit ourselves to, it should be pointed out that...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government is negotiating with 35 countries, including 14 in the Western Hemisphere, to avert cuts in U.S. military aid to nations that fail to shield Americans from an international war crimes tribunal, officials said Wednesday.President Bush may also issue waivers that would allow the U.S. funds to continue flowing to the hemispheric neighbors plus 10 nations from Africa, nine from Europe and two from East Asia and the Pacific.''Waivers are being considered on a case-by-case basis,'' said Mike Anton, a White House spokesman, in a telephone interview. ``There are ongoing negotiations.''The threatened cuts announced earlier this...

COLOMBIA-US Colombian gov't scrambles to retain U.S. military aid Bogota, Jul 2 (EFE).- Colombia's government says it wants to sign an accord exempting U.S. citizens from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, but not necessarily on terms set by Washington, which has frozen its military aid to the Andean nation. A demand for protection of all U.S. citizens in Colombia seems to be the stumbling block to consensus, according to statements made by Defense Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez Wednesday in Bogota. Ramirez said the White House wants immunity extended not only to military personnel in Colombia, but also...

The United States has cut military aid to 35 countries over their refusal to exempt US troops from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court (ICC).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday suspended military assistance to nearly 50 countries, including Colombia and six nations seeking NATO membership, because they have supported the International Criminal Court and failed to exempt Americans from possible prosecution. As the deadline passed for governments to sign exemption agreements or face the suspension of military aid, President Bush issued waivers for 22 countries. But the 22 countries did not include Colombia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Colombia, where the government is fighting leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers, has been one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid...

ZAGREB, May 14 (Reuters) - The United States has threatened to cut off military aid to Croatia unless Zagreb agrees by July 1 not to extradite U.S. citizens to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a top foreign ministry official said on Wednesday. But Croatia, already working with the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal, hopes to join a select group of countries Washington is exempting from signing such accords, Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic told Reuters. The United States, fearing its soldiers overseas could be vulnerable to politically motivated charges at the ICC -- which tries individuals for atrocities, war crimes and...

<p>Bush administration officials said the sale took place in August and was described in classified intelligence reports as a "dual-use" chemical used in making missile fuel.</p> <p>Officials discussed details of the chemical sale after it was first reported by columnist William Safire in Thursday's editions of the New York Times.</p>

US postpones visit by Israeli loan guarantee delegation The delegation was scheduled to hold the almost final round of talks on Israel request for military aid grants and loan guarantees. Ran Dagoni, Washington 11 Feb 03 13:30Thursday’s planned Washington trip by an Israeli delegation to discuss US special aid has been postponed for several days, for “technical reasons relating to the coordination of the Americans’ timetable.” Minister for Economic Affairs at the Israel Embassy in Washington Boaz Raday said, “A new date will be scheduled soon.” The original date was arranged with the US National Security Council, with the participation...