Posted on 03/24/2011 11:31:04 AM PDT by NoLibZone
While President Obama calls Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi a threat to his own people, just one month before attacking Libya the president asked Congress to increase U.S. aid for Qaddafi's military to $1.7 million.
According to State Department figures, the money was earmarked to train Libyan military officers, improve its air force, secure its borders and to counter terrorism.
If this seems contradictory, welcome to the world of U.S. foreign aid, where billions of tax dollars go to people we don't like and nations some say don't need the help. The latest unrest has drawn renewed scrutiny to these policies.
"It's certainly not wise or smart to give American aid to countries like Libya where the ruling class use it against their own people," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is sponsoring a bill that would rein in foreign aid.
Libya isn't the only repressive Arab regime benefiting from U.S. military aid. Obama wants $120 million for Yemen next year, including $20 million for a military accused of brutally putting down a popular revolt, and $11 million to promote democracy and human rights, something critics say doesn't exist in Yemen.
The U.S. also gives Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, substantial military aid. In the last four years, the United States provided security forces in Bahrain $51 million. On Feb. 14, Obama asked Congress for $26 million more, even though its royal family is not democratically elected and is accused of using military force to put down a popular revolt against the monarchy.
"I'm not saying you can justify each and every one of these expenditures, but you have to be able to look at it from a strategic perspective and they could well be justified," said John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "Military training for officers from various countries all around the world has historically been a very good investment for the U.S. We get to know officers as they go through their career path. We train them in notions like civilian control of the military. It hasn't been perfect, but for relatively small expenditures of money it can pay real benefits."
Bolton and Poe agree that the roughly $50 billion U.S. taxpayers spend overseas needs an overhaul. Of 192 countries in the world, the U.S. gives aid to 174 -- including repressive regimes in Africa and the Middle East like those of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and Omar al-Bashir in the Sudan; U.S. adversaries like Kim Jong Il in North Korea and Evo Morales in Bolivia; and countries like Russia and China.
"We cannot buy friendship. If we're trying to do that, we're a total failure. Most of these countries that we give money to, they vote against us in the United Nations, they don't like us, many of them hate us and we don't need to pay them to hate us. They can do it on their own," Poe said.
Poe is sponsoring legislation that would require Congress to approve U.S. aid on a country-by-country basis. He believes that would force it to scrutinize the aid sent to countries that don't like the U.S., don't support or share its values, and in many cases don't need the cash.
The State Department said Wednesday it had suspended U.S. military aid to Libya "a few weeks ago."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/24/did-qaddafi-deserve-funding-foreign-aid-scrutiny-amid-mideast-unrest/#ixzz1HXhOFLQK
Ping.
I suspected all along the media will try to tie Bush to Kadaffy, and scrutinize what we gave to him in return for his cooperation on the WoT.
I searched using:
“Did Qaddafi Deserve U.S. Funding”
Found nothing posted.
Search does not work for the first several minutes of a post.
Bush’s fault!
This bolsters my theory that Obama really wanted and still wants Khadhafi to remain in power.
Obama is unable to articulate a goal for the operation because he doesn’t want to say that he will use military force to oust Khadhafi, and he only joined the campaign for two reasons:
The first reason is that he felt that he could manage its objectives downward if he were a part of it, and thereby preserve Khadhafi in office.
The second reason is that Obama now has created a precedent for intervention in another country, when that country is not presenting a threat to the United States, according to a line of strategic thinking (R2P) that his advisor Samantha Power has been advocating for years should be used against Israel.
I think this is why the Arabs of Gaza, Judea and Samaria have stepped up their campaign against Israel just now. They are working with their strategists to convince Israel to feel that there is no choice but to invade Gaza. Once it does so, the US can come down for the first time ever in a military campaign against Israel under the R2P theory. That is why Obama expressed condolence to the “Palestinians” killed by Israel’s missiles fired against those who are attacking Israel’s cities, while he was in the midst of commenting on the terror attack in Jerusalem that killed one woman and wounded more than 30.
Unfortunately for Obama, it seems that Robert Gates, like Hillary Clinton, now may be undercutting Obama. Today Gates, in Israel, expressed understanding for Israel’s efforts to defend itself against the now-relentless missile and other terror attacks, saying that no country could live like that.
Good one Jet Jaguar...
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
Gaddafi regime fed names of jihadists to the CIA and to Britain
Like it or not, Qaddafi has been a quiet ally against Al Qaeda in GWOT, despite being a POS thug himself.
I'd bet Al Qaeda don't like snitches!
Could a Fatwa be in the Colonel future?
Al Qaeda’s been trying to kill Qaddafi since 1996.
I didn't know that. The might just be getting closer than they ever have thanks to Obamah.
Which is why attacking him is counter-productive in the long run. Take him out and we take out a source of intel vs. a greater threat.
Most people don't know anything about Qaddafi excerpt that he's a murderous POS. However, he's a bitter enemy of Islamic fundamentalists who pose a threat to his regime, and he despises the feckless Arab League. He thinks of himself as AFRICAN far more than Arab, and as a historical successor to Hannibal of Carthage and Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (who was a dark north African as well).
Moreover, Qaddafi is a creature of the old Soviet Union and is more a socialist than an actual Muslim. Hence, the official name of his country is the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriy," and he runs it exactly like a Soviet Socialist Republic.
Methinks that it’ll be a bit more difficult to impose a no fly zone or anything else on Israel than on Libya. On top of the Israeli Air Force, there are nukes. Israel isn’t going to be occupied by anyone for any reason without literally unleashing Hell on Earth.
Besides, Israel’s secret weapon, code-named Lord of Hosts, would likely initiate simultaneous earthquakes on the Pacific Plate and near New Madrid, thereby complicating US logistics somewhat. :>)
Even ugly POS thugs have enemies. Really, you think that AQ likes a guy who openly runs around with a harem of beautiful "bodyguards?"
He told off the Arab League to their faces last year.
It was something to behold.
Thx Nachum, I see you sent it too me first : ) You’re quick.
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