The Biden administration for the second time this month has bypassed Congress to approve the transfer of nearly $150 million in military equipment to Israel

Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress that he has made an emergency determination to immediately approve the transfer of “155mm ancillary items including fuzes, charges, and primers that make 155mm shells functional,” a State Department spokesperson said Friday.

The spokesperson said the additional items were added to previous sales, which “increased the total value of the sale to $147.5 million.”

Earlier this month, the administration rushed forward a sale of thousands of munitions to Israel, bypassing the standard 20-day period that congressional committees are typically afforded to review such a sale. The State Department sent an emergency declaration to the oversight committees that more than 13,000 tank shells would be delivered to Israel without any “further information, details or assurances.”

  • perviouslyiner@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Isn’t this an urban conflict in a dense city full of civilians? How on earth are 155mm artillery shells being justified?

    • BigDiction@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      For use in southern Lebanon? Deterrence for anyone else thinking of joining the conflict?

      Also didn’t sound right to me.

      • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Lemme get this straight. We’ve put significant restrictions on Ukraine using US provided gear, against targets inside of other countries. Because runaway escalation would be bad.

        But we’re supposedly cool if the IDF, then or at some point in the future, without prior approval or permission, uses US hardware against targets inside of other countries? Make it make sense, the justification for both countries is defensive wars against invading neighbors