Blackmail

U.S. Republicans want to tie foreign aid to political compliance.

The U.S. House Foreign Relations Committee proposed numerous politically motivated restrictions on foreign aid on Wednesday. Republican Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the most prominent supporter of the Israeli lobby in the House, introduced the rough draft.

In the occasionally heated session that lasted well into the night hours, Democratic committee members objected to the bill, saying it would restrict America’s foreign policy options. Republicans, however, have held a majority in the House since the 2010 elections, and thus also in the committees, so the measure is sure to be adopted in a plenary session. The Senate, which is still controlled by Democrats, is expected to raise objections to the bill, thus making a compromise between House and Senate versions necessary.

Ros-Lehtinen’s bill makes continued military aid to Egypt possible only if Egypt is not controlled directly or indirectly by a foreign terrorist organization. The contingency directly references the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood being included in any future Egyptian government. In addition, the Ros-Lehtinen bill requires Egypt to fully implement its peace treaty with Israel and to take “full and active” measures to destroy the tunnels into Gaza.

Lebanon would also receive no aid from the United States as long as members of Hezbollah are permitted to serve in any ministries or other governmental entities. The Shiite organization is currently already represented in the Lebanon government. Further aid to Mahmoud Abbas’s government in Palestine, the Palestinian Authority, would be contingent on members of Hamas being excluded from serving in any governmental positions. In addition, the Palestinian Authority would be required to wipe out any extremist infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, eliminate anti-Israeli propaganda and recognize Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish homeland. Yemen, where the United States supports the authoritarian regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, would be threatened with a withdrawal of aid if Yemen’s government were to fall into the hands of any “foreign terrorist organization” — meaning opposition Islamic fundamentalists.

The Republicans want to cancel all assistance to its “strategic ally” Pakistan in the event that the government in Islamabad refuses to accept a whole catalog of U.S. demands. Included in that is not only unlimited access to bin Laden’s former compound and family members, but also a Pakistani escalation of the civil war against Islamic forces. Additionally, financial assistance for civilian projects in Pakistan would be made contingent on Pakistan’s “cooperation in the war on terror.” As late as May of this year, Ros-Lehtinen had rejected such demands from her party as not being in America’s interests.

The draft legislation introduced by the Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday further called for a complete halt of all aid to the “leftist” Latin American nations of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Argentina. Additionally, the U.S. would cease making further contributions to the Organization of American States (OAS), which currently amount to $44 million annually. Likewise, any U.N. member country electing to recognize a Palestinian state or upgrade the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s observer group status would be barred from receiving any U.S. assistance.