On Mon, 2004-01-26 at 19:03, Carl Fink wrote: > On Tue, Jan 27, 2004 at 02:54:45AM +0100, David Jardine wrote: > > > I don't know about the world's needy, but I do remember (well, > > perhaps not too accurately, perhaps :)) reading some years ago > > that 48 per cent of what was called "US foreign aid" was accounted > > for by what had to be paid to Israel and Egypt to keep them from > > each other's throats. > > Sure, but does the 12.9 billion figure include the defense > expenditures for keeping the Bosnians and Albanians safe from their > Christian tormentors? I'd suggest that comparing ethnic groups with religious groups is rather like comparing apples to oranges. I'm assuming that you meant to imply either the "expenditures for keeping the MUSLIMS safe from their Christian tormentors". Or, otherwise, "expenditures for keeping the Bosnians and Albanians safe from their SERB tormentors". Both statements are sure to anger a great number of people. The former will undoubtedly anger Christians the world over, while the latter will (and just did) offend Serbs the world over. :) But, getting back to the subject at hand, I don't think that 12.9 billion would involve the US presence in the Balkans as it is primarily military, not humanitarian. > For that matter, why is buying peace not a valid use of foreign aid? For the same reason that giving a kid $5 to be your friend is not a valid use of your parents money. :) Peace that is bought isn't peace at all. Restrained tensions that are kept at bay by having cash thrown at them will escalate at the slightest provocation, at which point all of Bush's advisers and all his men won't put the Middle East back together again. -- Alex Malinovich Support Free Software, delete your Windows partition TODAY! Encrypted mail preferred. You can get my public key from any of the pgp.net keyservers. Key ID: A6D24837
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