View Full Version : foreign aid
flowerseverywhere
9-16-12, 8:07am
Every time something happens in the middle east articles are written and you hear lots of chatter about Foreign aid.
I've been searching around the net and there is a lot I don't understand. Like giving aid to countries we borrow money from, giving aid to countries that clearly don't want us meddling in their affairs.
Does anyone have a logical explanation as to why we have developed these policies? This is not a Republican/Democrat issue, as for as long as I can remember this has been the case- although it is used for a lot of finger pointing and accusations (what isn't these days) on both sides.
We give money - the money gets spent - the money ends up in somebody's pocket.
I think that pretty much sums it up. If you track down the somebody's, I think why money goes to any particular place will become much more apparent.
Does anyone have a logical explanation as to why we have developed these policies? ...
No.
I had a student ask me about this the other day. Of course he was parroting his parents views that all the aid to the mid-East should be cut off--pronto!
I know that giving foreign aid is a very complex process. I also know that we give aid for many, many reasons but most importantly, I know we don't give aid for altruistic reasons. We give aid because it helps us--or at least we hope it will help us. I think most of the aid we give, ultimately, probably does help us win friends and influence people. Probably some times it doesn't work. I don't think we really care about helping the downtrodden so much as it makes us look good to care about the downtrodden. If we cared that much about the downtrodden, we'd take better care of the poor in our own country--but then the poor in our country don't have nuclear weapons programs they're working on...
I had to do a little of my own research. I imagine much of our foreign aid policy falls into the category of "how to win friends and influence people" category. That doesn't necessarily make it independent of altruism. For example, near the top of the list are Haiti and Ethiopia. Not exactly heavy hitters in the global sense of economy or strategic locations. We give foreign aid as both military aid and economic aid. It probably doesn't take much of an imagination to guess where the military foreign aid goes. And it looks like we give quite a bit of economic foreign aid to help rebuild places where we have participated in wars, as in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A lot of it doesn't make sense to me, but I suppose through the eyes of a politician it is a way to maintain a balance of power and cheaper than sending in our own military. With a hint of humanitarian effort.
At least that's my simple take on it.
A lot of our foreign aid is military aid, as in, we're essentially paying them to purchase our firepower. Not really "aid" like we'd normally think of.
I'd have to do some research, but wasn't the Marshall Plan after WWII the mother of all U.S. gov't funded foreign aid programs (humanitarian)?
flowerseverywhere
9-16-12, 8:40pm
I guess if the aid was humanitarian it would make sense to most, however does the aid actually get to the people who need it or is it paid to middlemen and cronies? And an awful lot of aid is military from what I can find.
And an awful lot of the military aid comes with strings attached that require purchase of US-made equipment, and so it is really more of a subsidy to our own military manufacturers, disguised as aid.
flowerseverywhere
9-16-12, 11:11pm
interesting Bae. Unfortunately giving unstable poor countries guns doesn't seem to have yielded fabulous results in recent history.
ApatheticNoMore
9-16-12, 11:25pm
A lot of our foreign aid is military aid, as in, we're essentially paying them to purchase our firepower. Not really "aid" like we'd normally think of.
Well that's one thing, I admit to being very confused about this topic of aid to the middle east, wondering if the U.S. is really spending that much on humanitarian aid there.
I had a student ask me about this the other day. Of course he was parroting his parents views that all the aid to the mid-East should be cut off--pronto!
again finding it puzzling. What should be stopped is MILITARY involvement in the middle east (backing rebels, helping countries buy arms etc.), if some humanitarian aid is going on I can't imagine anyone finding that the main problem with U.S. invovlement in the middle east. Money is fungible, but if what is being sent is shipments of food and medicine ...
I think a lot of the aid to the middle east is basically a bribe to those countries to stay in peace treaties with Israel. We are bribing everyone to not go to war with our supposed 'friend' but increasingly I am getting tired of this. This 'friend' is the one who constantly shows up late to lunch and never remembers their wallet. And this 'friend' tries to keep us in line by threatening to attack Iran, or whoever, if we don't do as they wish.
Of course, one bonus of this is the under the table subsidy of the military industrial complex, as others have pointed out.
I think a lot of the aid to the middle east is basically a bribe to those countries to stay in peace treaties with Israel. We are bribing everyone to not go to war with our supposed 'friend' but increasingly I am getting tired of this. This 'friend' is the one who constantly shows up late to lunch and never remembers their wallet. And this 'friend' tries to keep us in line by threatening to attack Iran, or whoever, if we don't do as they wish.
Of course, one bonus of this is the under the table subsidy of the military industrial complex, as others have pointed out.
This is so true. Israel receives the largest amount of foreign aid from the US it is in the billions. The Israel lobbyist almost control congress. They are still building illegal settlement on the west bank and we still give them money. I am so afraid they will drag us into a big war in the middle east.
Those darned Jews again...
SteveinMN
9-17-12, 12:11pm
This is so true. Israel receives the largest amount of foreign aid from the US it is in the billions. The Israel lobbyist almost control congress. They are still building illegal settlement on the west bank and we still give them money. I am so afraid they will drag us into a big war in the middle east.
We're not already in a big war in the Middle East? It may not be a declared war and the locale may vary, but over the last 10 years or so, we've dumped billions into fighting Islamists and, for much longer than that, have provided aid to all kinds of regimes (Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia) who have accepted the money gladly and then did what they wanted to.
And I would nominate the evangelical Christian right wing as the group with the biggest hold on Congress (and, no, I'm not Jewish). You certainly don't hear about Orthodox or Conservative Jews wanting to turn the U.S. into a theocracy.
All that said, I believe Israel should remain a U.S. ally, but I do think they should be treated by the same rules we apply in aiding other governments in the area. They simply cannot act with impunity in the area and then run to the U.S. when their enemies fight back. And I think they need to do a better job in reining in their own citizens. If the state of Israel decides to pull out of a West Bank settlement, then any Israeli citizen who homesteads there or fails to leave should be removed. I understand that citizens of a country do not always march in lockstep with their government, but, to me, Israel often looks like the parent who will not make their kids behave in public.
All that said, I believe Israel should remain a U.S. ally, but I do think they should be treated by the same rules we apply in aiding other governments in the area.
I have good friends who are highly placed in the Israeli military. They are not fond at all of US military "aid" at this point, and feel it ties their hands too much, and would prefer to go it alone, as they think it would be far better for their country.
Think on that for a moment....
Just like most people around the world are kind enough to recognize that Americans are not a monolith aligned with their government's actions (note that it's government installations that are being targeted currently), so also I do not see anyone on this thread characterizing Israelis (or Jews) monolithicly, nor confusing the will of those citizens with the politics of their current government. So no need to preemptively play the anti-semite card, Bae, though I appreciate you sharing your friends' perspective. Similarly, I know of an Israeli veteran who abhors the orthodox and conservatives who build illegal settlements and then force the more secular Israelis to lay their lives on the line to protect those settlements... but we were talking about foreign aid...
"And I would nominate the evangelical Christian right wing as the group with the biggest hold on Congress (and, no, I'm not Jewish). You certainly don't hear about Orthodox or Conservative Jews wanting to turn the U.S. into a theocracy." (SteveinMN)
The Evangelical Christian right wing is probably the strongest advocate for sending money and war materiel to Israel (and discouraging peace efforts), because it is their belief that if an all-out, unrestrained war breaks out in the area it will lead to Armageddon and the second coming.
Instead of the Brits giving the Jews Palestein we should have gave them Texas. :)
Instead of the Brits giving the Jews Palistein we should have gave them Texas. :)
Or give Texans Palestine, that'd sort things out pretty quicklike, and the people of Colorado would thank you :-)
Instead of the Brits giving the Jews Palistein we should have gave them Texas. :)
:laff::laff: +1
I have good friends who are highly placed in the Israeli military. They are not fond at all of US military "aid" at this point, and feel it ties their hands too much, and would prefer to go it alone, as they think it would be far better for their country.
Think on that for a moment....
Well, I wouldn't want to be living near Bushehr if the US gives the reigns to the horse.
BTW...did anyone notice that the first four letters of Bushehr are B*U*S*H? Coincidence? :devil:
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