Rick Jones recently penned a guest column entitled “Limited government precludes aid to Israel”. Not only was it biased, it was also factually inaccurate.

Rick stated that in 1983 the “US had military personnel in Beirut supporting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon”.

The fact is that in 1982, at the request of the Lebanese government, a multinational force deployed to Lebanon in an attempt to stabilize that country and stop the fighting between the PLO, Syria and Israel. This multinational force was to assist the Lebanese Army in evacuating PLO and Syrian forces involved in the Lebanese civil war which was caused by tensions between Lebanese Christians and Muslims. This tension was made worse by the presence of PLO fighters.

Rick further stated that “to support Israel’s allies in Lebanon, Pres. Reagan ordered the US Sixth Fleet to fire their 16 inch guns at coastal Lebanese towns”.

The fact is that Reagan was targeting militant positions outside of Beirut in retaliation for the suicide bombing of a marine barracks in Beirut which killed 241 US service members. This bombing was carried out by the terrorist group Hezbollah with support from Iran.

Rick also stated “A strong case can be made that 9/11 would not have happened without our entangling alliances with Israel”.

The fact is that Osama Bin Laden had a laundry list of grievances against the US. The main one, which made Bin Laden furious, stemmed from the presence of 5000 US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia as well as US troops in Somalia and Iraq. Bin Laden’s grievances ranged from US greenhouse gas emissions to our alleged support for Russian atrocities and Indian oppression in Kashmir. He had never shown concern for the Palestinian cause except as a means to gain favor with militant Muslims.

Is it possible for an informed individual to not accuse Rick of extreme anti-Israel bias after reading his commentary blaming Israel for the Beirut barracks bombing and the horrendous terrorist attack of 9/11, then criticizing the 3 billion in aid to Israel without criticizing all foreign aid which tops 51 billion per year, much of which goes to countries which hate us?

David Meents

North Ogden

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