I was listening to pundits on the television this morning haranguing about American Foreign Aid.
They were angry because of all the billions of “aid” our country had given to Egypt. They believe that Mubarak received $1-2 billion or so every year for thirty years and skimmed most of it off for his own account instead of feeding the poor and improving living standards for all Egyptians.
The pundits concluded that all foreign aid should be suspended because the money doesn’t get into the hands of the people who need it most.
All this pundit can say is “If only the issue were that simple!”
The other day, I watched a video on the internet where David Cameron, Prime Minister of the UK disclosed that the British government had actually pressured the Scottish government to release the Lockerbie Bomber on humanitarian grounds even though the evidence did not indicate the guy was actually terminally ill. Former PM Gordon Brown denied it.
PM Cameron exposed his own government and revealed that Great Britain was negotiating a deal for British Petroleum in Libya and freeing the terrorist was a part of their deal. I would consider that Foreign Aid.
It makes you wonder about the motives of our government when we give financial aid or use the resources of our country to benefit a foreign government. I know we want to believe that Foreign Aid is given to help poor countries do something to improve the human condition, but how often do we ever accomplish humanitarian goals considering how much of the money actually is spent on the problem?
The reality is that Foreign Aid is a pay-off to leaders of countries we need on our side for acting in a particular way. We buy performance from foreign leaders. Sometimes those leaders are not the best citizens.
Not all foreign leaders skim off the cash for their own account, but most do. Should we stop giving foreign aid? I wouldn’t advise it. In spite of the flaws in the system, there aren’t many foreign leaders that would see things our way if we stopped giving them stuff.
Everyone has heard the phrase “Follow the Money!” and Foreign Aid is exactly that. Foreign governments support our initiatives because we either pay them with money or give them security against aggressors. If push comes to shove, we don’t have too many real friends in this world, at least in the sense of personal friends.
If those pundits were successful in halting foreign aid programs, our country would begin to feel pretty lonely pretty fast. Imagine how life in this country would change if we swapped places with Israel and felt the pressure on our borders from every jackal in the neighborhood like they do. What would you pay to keep that threat away?
No Loss for Words
What do We Get for All That Money?
by Steve DanaI was listening to pundits on the television this morning haranguing about American Foreign Aid.
They were angry because of all the billions of “aid” our country had given to Egypt. They believe that Mubarak received $1-2 billion or so every year for thirty years and skimmed most of it off for his own account instead of feeding the poor and improving living standards for all Egyptians.
The pundits concluded that all foreign aid should be suspended because the money doesn’t get into the hands of the people who need it most.
All this pundit can say is “If only the issue were that simple!”
The other day, I watched a video on the internet where David Cameron, Prime Minister of the UK disclosed that the British government had actually pressured the Scottish government to release the Lockerbie Bomber on humanitarian grounds even though the evidence did not indicate the guy was actually terminally ill. Former PM Gordon Brown denied it.
PM Cameron exposed his own government and revealed that Great Britain was negotiating a deal for British Petroleum in Libya and freeing the terrorist was a part of their deal. I would consider that Foreign Aid.
It makes you wonder about the motives of our government when we give financial aid or use the resources of our country to benefit a foreign government. I know we want to believe that Foreign Aid is given to help poor countries do something to improve the human condition, but how often do we ever accomplish humanitarian goals considering how much of the money actually is spent on the problem?
The reality is that Foreign Aid is a pay-off to leaders of countries we need on our side for acting in a particular way. We buy performance from foreign leaders. Sometimes those leaders are not the best citizens.
Not all foreign leaders skim off the cash for their own account, but most do. Should we stop giving foreign aid? I wouldn’t advise it. In spite of the flaws in the system, there aren’t many foreign leaders that would see things our way if we stopped giving them stuff.
Everyone has heard the phrase “Follow the Money!” and Foreign Aid is exactly that. Foreign governments support our initiatives because we either pay them with money or give them security against aggressors. If push comes to shove, we don’t have too many real friends in this world, at least in the sense of personal friends.
If those pundits were successful in halting foreign aid programs, our country would begin to feel pretty lonely pretty fast. Imagine how life in this country would change if we swapped places with Israel and felt the pressure on our borders from every jackal in the neighborhood like they do. What would you pay to keep that threat away?
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