Bill Wilson

Daily Jot News Service

WASH--Jun 15--DJNS--On June 12 CNN reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told attendees at a Brookings Institute gathering, “We are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically." A spokesman for the Russian company that sells these weapons to Syria, Rosoboronexport, told CNN “No one can ever accuse Russia of violating the rules of armaments trade set by the international community. The contract was signed long ago, and we supply armaments that are self defense rather than attack weapons.” What Clinton did not tell the Brookings attendees is that US taxpayers are also buying helicopters from the same Russian company.

While Clinton was criticizing the Russians for selling attack helicopters to Syria, the Administration is buying attack helicopters from Rosoboronexport to replenish the Afghanistan helicopter fleet. US taxpayers are footing the $375 million bill that could increase to over half a billion dollars. It seems wrong that the US, after nation-building in Afghanistan for 10 years and 7 months at the cost of 2,000 US lives and tens of thousands of maimings, that our government would not be replacing old Russian equipment with American-made equipment. Furthermore, it is morally and ethically wrong for the US government to be doing business with the same company that is enabling mass atrocities in Syria.

Several Congressmen led by Senator John Cornyn (R-Tx) wrote Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying that the US should be sanctioning the Russian company rather than giving it half a billion dollars. AFP reports that Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: "This particular contract is the only method legally available to the department to provide those aircraft and, just as importantly, safe and reliable spare parts and equipment to support those aircraft for the Afghan military." The Defense Department acknowledged in a letter to lawmakers that Rosoboronexport is continuing to supply weapons and ammunition to the Syrian regime and there is evidence that these weapons are being used on civilians.

James 1:8 says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Our government is a den of elected and appointed usurpers and deceivers who are truly double minded. This White House sees no problem with supporting evil regimes with your tax dollars. This Congress, though trying to appear righteous in this particular incident, was irresponsible with your money by not holding the White House accountable in the first place. Meantime, people are enriching themselves off the lives of our soldiers and by seizing the fruits of your hard labor through taxes. With this kind of stewardship, from the voter all the way to the White House and every place in between, is it no wonder our nation is in the condition it is in?

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