Thread: UNITED STATES FOREIGN AID 2011

The United States is Broke, and yet our government is borrowing Billions of Dollars to give to other Countries.

Obama wants to raise taxes.

Illegal aliens recieve tax dollars.

Civil unrest is starting over the banking system.

States are being sued by the federal Government.

The stock market drops every time Obama opens his mouth.

and the list goes on and on. And we borrow money to give to other countries.

Protesters at an anti-U.S. rally in Hyperabad, Pakistan / Reuters

We Don't Give Out Foreign Aid to Make People Like Us

By James M. Lindsay

Sep 29 2011, 7:00 AM ET

Some in the U.S. ask why we give millions to countries like Pakistan and Egypt where we're unpopular, but winning hearts and minds isn't the point

Last week's Republican presidential debate had an online video question from a voter asking why "we send billions of dollars overseas to people who hate us." It's not only average Americans who are asking the question. As my colleague Ed Husain points out in his new blog, "The Arab Street," Idaho Republican senator James Risch struck the same note: "Frankly, I'm getting tired of it, and I think Americans are getting tired of it as far as shoveling money in there at people who just flat don't like us."

It's a mixed bag. The publics in three countries (Israel, Kenya, and Nigeria) like us; the publics in two countries (Afghanistan and Mexico) are ambivalent; the publics in three countries (Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan) are hostile; and we don't have reliable data on the publics in two countries (Haiti and Iraq).


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Should the United States slash aid to countries that don't like us? No, or at least not because we think they should show more gratitude. Washington doles out aid primarily based on calculations about how to advance U.S. strategic interests rather than assessments of pure need, which is why Afghanistan, Israel, and Pakistan top the list of aid recipients rather than Burundi, Congo, and Mali. Nor are foreign publics necessarily being ingrates when they don't hold favorable views of the United States. They may dislike other aspects of U.S. foreign policy, see the aid propping up an unpopular government or lining the pockets of corrupt elites (common complaints among Americans as well), or not even know that their country receives U.S. aid.

With respect to this last point, CFR ran a project a few years back that did focus groups with Egyptians, Moroccans, and Indonesians. One of the findings was that in all three countries people vastly underestimated how much aid the U.S. government gave their countries and did not know what it was spent on. As they learned more about U.S. aid programs, they looked upon the United States more favorably. Unfortunately, there are practical obstacles to advertising U.S. aid to local publics. They will see "From the American People" on sacks of food during a famine. They won't see "From the American People" on a plaque on a new turbine at a power plant. Worse yet, in some countries stamping "From the American People" on a building or new bus would increase the chances of it being targeted in a terrorist attack.

But the overall lesson is clear: if you are giving aid solely to be liked, be prepared for disappointment.

http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... us/245856/

Perry suggests U.S. military role in Mexico drug war

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire | Sun Oct 2, 2011 1:37am EDT

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said on Saturday he would get the U.S. military involved in Mexico's war with drug cartels, in comments likely to upset the Mexican government.

The remarks appear to be a new misstatement on foreign policy by Perry, the Texas governor who is struggling to hold on to the mantle of frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Perry said that as president he would work with Mexico in the same way that the United States has worked with Colombia to combat drug cartels.

"The way that we were able to stop the drug cartels in Colombia was with a coordinated effort," he said in a campaign speech in New Hampshire. "It may take our military" working with the Mexican government to win Mexico's drug war, he said.

The U.S. military has advisers in Colombia who are involved mainly in training, logistical support and intelligence backup for the Colombian armed forces as they fight cocaine traffickers and leftist guerrillas.

But there are no U.S. armed forces in Mexico fighting the drug war and Mexico strongly opposes any U.S. military involvement in its territory, although it has received more than $1 billion in U.S. aid to take on the cartels.

More than 42,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug feuds since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006.

Perry, one of two main Republican contenders to take on President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, has stumbled before on foreign issues. He gave a rambling answer during a debate between candidates last month to a question about what he would do as president if the Taliban got hold of nuclear weapons.

(Reporting by Jason McLure, editing by Alistair Bell and Bill Trott)

Making Sense Of U.S. Foreign Aid To Egypt And Elsewhere

1/29/2011 @ 2:10PM |20,531 views

With Egypt in turmoil, it’s widely being reported that the United States gives $1.5 billion in foreign aid to the government in Cairo each year. And with the U.S. at risk of running a $1.5 trillion deficit this year, that means it’s only a matter of time before budget hawks start picking apart U.S. foreign aid.

The $1.5 billion requested for Egypt in the president’s fiscal year 2011 budget puts the country fourth on the list of recipients for aid managed by the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development. Only Afghanistan ($3.9 billion), Pakistan ($3.1 billion) and Israel ($3 billion) have more aid requested for them. Most of the money for these four countries is allocated for “peace and security,â€

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

We need to cut off aid to Mexico NOW. Call it reimbursement for the expenses we face in providing benefits to their citzens.