It’s All Your Money: U.S. Aid to Pakistan
17th May 2011
More than $20 billion has been given to Pakistan since Sept. 11, 2001. President Obama is proposing almost $3 billion in aid for the supposed ally in the War on Terror for fiscal year 2012. That includes:
– $1.6 billion for police and military;
– $150 million for what the State Department calls “good government and democracy building”;
– $122 million for health, AIDS and “family planning”;
– $145 million for education.
The rest goes to economic development and humanitarian assistance.
May 17th, 2011 at 11:38
These stories on foreign aid are all very incendiary, but they seldom contain the whole story – including the real reason you should hate it.
Every nickel of that money has strings attached to it and every one of those strings ties back to Washington. An example: Some years back, Columbia was given a large grant to buy aircraft to help in their war (such as it is) against drug smuggling. On the surface the whole thing seems to make sense, as we have a common interest in that area and having more helicopters would really help the Columbian military. However, at the time one of the small aircraft manufacturers in the USA was struggling. The representatives they supported in D.C. saw to it that this money was to be spent on fixed wing aircraft made by that company. The Columbians ended up with a field full of aircraft that they couldn’t use slowly rotting away.
So before you get pissed off at Pakistan or any of the many countries getting foreign aid, follow those strings back to the septic system in Washington, D.C. It may help you understand why, despite all the posturing going on post-OBL, Pakistan will continue to get aid money.