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There are about three things that I can tell you that I think are worth understanding.
1. The foreign aid the United States distributes is in part because we believe we have a humanitarian obligation to do it and in part because we think it is in our best interests to do so. (For example, helping to immunize people in Africa is in the public health interests of the United States; everybody in the world is no more than a day's travel away from the United States.)
Then why is a large chunk of the "aid" weapons?
Are those humanitarian-love-US-aid-cluster-bombs that Israel is dropping on folks in the area?
Because it is in everyone's best interest and all?
Just trying to match the real world pictures to the words.
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3. Whenever Americans are surveyed on how much foreign aid we should be providing, the percentage of our budget that people think we should give is way higher than what we're actually spending on foreign aid.
Think the Americans surveyed have any idea that much of that "aid" is actually weapons?
that would be political aid and not humanitarian aid.
Under the guise of "Foreign Aid" -- the topic being discussed -- there is little distinguishing "political" and as you say --
(btw, Per Tea Potty Neo-Con Newspeak weapons shipments are now called "political aid?")
-- and humanitarian aid.
That is why the weapons are masked and labelled as Foreign Aid. Same way the Lusitania was masking the shipment of weapons in the hold.
The acceptable pretense in the US Foreign Aid is going to poor folks around the world. In truth, much of it is going to weapons to spread death, injury and poverty among poor folks around the world.
Just pointing out the lies, if you do not mind too much.
That's all.
So you can go back to your "political" -- as you say -- issues.
btw, is there not a political section for that on here on City Data?
And you are naive enough to believe that the aid we send there is actually benefitting her? If it WERE helping her to better her situation, then by all means, I would consider it a good investment. After all, I'd like her to buy American goods! New customers! Yay!
But the sad truth is that most of it goes to corrupt dictators that use it to further their own grips on power.
I'm about as far away from being religious as you can get, but I think Bush was onto something with the faith-based initiatives. If funds could be funneled to provenly effective missionary organizations that are THERE in that country, on the ground with those people and overseeing the charity, it would be a much better situation.
Of course it doesn't benefit HER. My argument was with CaptainNJ, who said it SHOUDLN'T benefit her, because she's not an American.
The implication of "faith-based" charity is that it fosters the idea that the only deserving recipients are those who are approved for their conformity with the current dogma of the faith. Which, sadly, is what you get from government aid when you have a "faith-based" autocrat in the White House.
It might also be pointed out that a very large number of private charities are a great deal more wasteful of their funding than even the US government is. And the citizens have a very poor track record when it comes to gullibility about things like that. Some of them exist solely for the purpose of raising their own costs of doing business, including salaries of their officers, with little or nothing left over to support the charity work.
It might also be pointed out that a very large number of private charities are a great deal more wasteful of their funding than even the US government is.
true or not, that makes no difference. government shouldnt be a charitable organization. they should just govern.
The acceptable pretense in the US Foreign Aid is going to poor folks around the world. In truth, much of it is going to weapons to spread death, injury and poverty among poor folks around the world.
it should be going to weapons. not food. we send weapons so they can be used to our benefit. the food is just wasted and needs to be sent every day and its a never ending process.
That kind of evil finds it way home. One of the primary listed causes for 9-11, you may recall.
Show me the benefit in your blood-lust kill-fest.
Only folks that perceive any benefit are you faux-Conservative-Neo-Con-PNAC'ers.
Just a pack of whacked MIC reich-wangers and the religious nutcases you all track with.
Seems we should have been sending food, along . . . looky here . . . Cottage Cheese.
Houda figgered?
Israel's tent city outcries may force election (http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Israel+tent+city+outcries+force+election/5225489/story.html - broken link)
That kind of evil finds it way home. One of the primary listed causes for 9-11, you may recall.
Show me the benefit in your blood-lust kill-fest.
Only folks that perceive any benefit are you faux-Conservative-Neo-Con-PNAC'ers.
Just a pack of whacked MIC reich-wangers and the religious nutcases you all track with.
Seems we should have been sending food, along . . . looky here . . . Cottage Cheese.
Houda figgered?
Israel's tent city outcries may force election (http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Israel+tent+city+outcries+force+election/5225489/story.html - broken link)
giving israel weapons has created a stable and peaceful middle east. the mistake we make is by actually sending our own troops to do the job. we are the problem in iraq and afghanistan. no american soldier needs to die, if you want war just send weapons to the right people.
jewish people like stewed prunes and cottage cheese. so if the price of cottage cheese goes up, you are going to have some angry jews.
We could have driven around Iraq in rented minivans and handed every Iraqi family $10,000 in US cash. Cost of winning their hearts and minds: $50-billion. Battle deaths: Zero. Infrastructure damage: Zero.
No, we did it the American way.
Cost: $1-2 trillion. Hearts and minds won: Zero. Battle deaths: Mostly civilians, maybe a million. Infrastructure damage: Nearly all of it.
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