Lol.
"Your post that in all divorce cases, all fathers are abusive and neglectful shows what kind of an arsewipe you are."
I didn't say that, you idiot.
What do you think of this:
US-Israeli military ties uneasy
By JANINE ZACHARIA
In an increasingly bitter row over Israel's upgrading of a weapons system for China, the Bush Administration is now blaming Israel for undermining its sustained diplomatic efforts to persuade Europe not to resume arms sales to Beijing.
"Something is going badly wrong in the military relationship" between Israel and the US, a senior Bush Administration official told The Jerusalem Post. And while some other Washington officials describe the rift as being less than "a big crisis," this insider said the dispute can now only be resolved "at a high level."
The US has been working through diplomatic channels for months to persuade the EU to leave in place its ban on military sales to China, in effect since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
And US officials say Israeli sales of military technology are making a mockery of that effort.
"We have been in a huge campaign [toward the EU] to persuade them not to lift their embargo on lethal weapons sales," a senior Bush administration official said. "We are lobbying the Europeans as hard as we can not to, while Israel is selling the same kind of technology."
A European diplomat predicted Washington's efforts to persuade the EU would prove futile. "We're on the way to lifting [the embargo]," the diplomat said.
Nine days ago, EU leaders declared their "political will" to lift the arms embargo on China by next June. Leading European arms exporters such as France and Germany declared the ban "outdated."
At least officially, the EU insists that lifting the embargo will not lead to a flood of weaponry to China, but rather would be intended as a "political move to recognize China's role in world affairs," the European diplomat said.
Industry officials in Israel said that Israel has not sold any weapon or weapons system "whatsoever" to China since the Americans vetoed a $2-billion deal in 2000 for which Israel was to outfit up to eight planes with its Phalcon advanced airborne radar system. Israel eventually paid China more than $300 million in compensation for canceling that deal, which threatened future Israeli military sales to China that Israeli officials worked hard to cultivate.
The system now in question is the Harpy, a killer drone that hovers over enemy radar systems and then dives on top of them. Manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries's MBT Division, it was sold to China in 1994.
The system was returned recently for repairs and upkeep, but according to US reports, Israel had also intended to upgrade it.
More broadly, the US and Israel have been at loggerheads over the sale of military technology to China because of US fears that the systems could be used against US personnel – who may be forced to protect America's ally Taiwan against China if tensions across the Taiwan Straits turn into a full-scale military conflict.
The European diplomat said the EU considers such American concerns "exaggerated." The senior administration official said the US would not be as concerned with weapons sales as with the sale of technology that is grouped broadly under the category known as C4ISR – Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.
There is also speculation among local defense bodies that the American pressure is motivated by competition.
The latest matter has caused great consternation in the Israeli defense industry.
"There is a contract with the Chinese on this. What are we going to do?" said one industry source.
Israel has not yet decided whether to return the drones.
jpost.com |
