U.S. to Rebuild Mdeirej Bridge Destroyed by Israel

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The United States will pay to rebuild the Mdeirej bridge in Lebanon, the highest in the Middle East, which was damaged by Israeli bombardment during the July-August war, a senior U.S. official has said.

The 70 meter high bridge, on the mountainous road linking Beirut and Damascus, was hit on July 21 in the early days of Israel's 34-day offensive on Lebanon. A 200-metre-long section was destroyed.

U.S. State Department Director of Foreign Assistance Randall L. Tobias, in Lebanon on a two-day visit, said Friday work on the bridge is tangible proof that U.S. pledges of assistance "amount to more than just words."

Tobias is also administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which will pay an estimated 20 million dollars in repairs."

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[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

1. never mind!

this would have just started an unproductive fight. But I will say this... as a jew I wish the world had just given us Bavaria!

I have been to Israel there is nothing there worth dying for.

[Benhurst]

3. I have often wished the gift to have been Mississippi or

Alabama; but Bavaria would have made a lot of sense.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. One of the reasons why I find the story of Moses so insane

Here the guy roamed around the desert for 40 years. I mean how long could it take to go from Egypt to Israel? Aren't they next to each other? Then when he finally finds just the right spot, he picks one without any oil or water. Next time around, maybe the Israelis should pick a better real estate agent?

[Retrograde]

13. he was a guy

and therefore genetically incapable of asking for directions :)

More serioiusly, "40" in the Bible often seems to mean "a whole lot of": cf raining for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus' fasting for 40 days, etc. Not to mention Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Is that why everyone live 100+ years?

I remember reading some entries where they claimed certain people lived 100's of years.

I guess the world went slower then?

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[entanglement]

6. DUers have a knack for predicting the unpleasant, don't we?

:(

[Nolo_Contendre]

8. The US paid for the Israeli bombs and now Lebanon's reconstruction

It's a good thing this country isn't bankrupt and has so much wealth to blow on waste and hate...
Oh wait! I forgot about the trillion dollar deficit...

[gratuitous]

10. Lucrative

The U.S. taxpayer pays the military contractor top dollar to produce the munitions, Israel buys them at a deep discount because they're Israel, Israel blows up a bunch of shit, then the U.S. taxpayer rebuilds the infrastructure that Israel blows up. At a premium. Could the upward transfer of wealth be any more obvious? I suppose sticking vacuum hoses into people's wallets and purses would be only slightly more blatant, but the concept is the same.

What value did you get for your tax dollar? Is the U.S. safer because we bought all those armaments? Did we get good value for our sale of those armaments? And now $20 million to rebuild bridges in Lebanon. It's a good thing there are no bridges in the United States that need maintenance or retrofitting or replacement.

[Thickasabrick]

Well said. n/t

[w4rma]

5. For Gosh sakes I hope the contractor is not Haliburton, again. (nt)

[malaise]

7. How else will they get the mercenaries

into Lebanon to stir up some more trouble.

[SOS]

12. If it is Halliburton...

Here's what the bridge will look like, after Cheney's pals cash the $20 million check:

[leesa]

9. We just pay, and pay, and pay for Israel.

[kamtsa]

14. Building the bridge does not help Israel, it helps Lebanon

[Malikshah]

25. Uh...it's the old...you broke it, you bought it.

In this case, Israel broke it. And we, like the spoiling parents we are, you know, the ones who enable, reason with, and then let their kids do anything they damn well please, pay for the kids' screw ups.

Such is life and death.

[Turbineguy]

11. Here's an idea!

Howz about one'o-dem collapsible bridges. Then instead of dropping bombs they can just say "take it down for a while will ya?" It's a lot less noisy too.

They can get an Army surplus bridge for say, 100 grand and Haliburton will make $19.9 million in profits!

[williesgirl]

15. Why in hell aren't the Israelis paying for this?

[Nolo_Contendre]

17. Ask AIPAC

I'm sure their lawyers have a slew of answers prepared.

[Ms. Clio]

23. I think some of them are reading, in fact

[cosmicdot]

18. surely, there will be cost over-runs

maybe Bechtel will get this contract (only to subcontract to Halliburton)

maybe there'll be some peace until it's complete ... only to be destroyed again ... rinse and repeat ... the corporate-military-industrial complex-in-action ...

[daleo]

19. The World Trade Center is a hole in the ground

New Orleans is still a disaster area.

[wholetruth00]

20. Will anyone have the guts to subtract this cost from Israeli aid?

This is one of the main reasons the neocons must be driven out of government. They give themselves tax breaks and pick our pockets to pay for the evil deeds of our so-called "allies."

[breakaleg]

21. Great idea. It will never happen.

[Ms. Clio]

22. yes, DUers predicted this would ultimately cost us, the American taxpayers

really growing tired of some of the double standards. In any number of places.

[LeftyMom]

24. I hope we're billing Israel

Oh, silly me, we paid for them to blow shit up and now we're paying to fix it. Lucky us. :eyes:

[LeftistGorilla]

26. goodie!

Now the Middle East will love you guys! :sarcasm: