One of the things that is brought up in these hearings as if it is a normal routine job of American diplomats is their involvement in routing out corruption (whatever that means) in other countries.
Why is it US govt business to root out corruption in foreign lands?
What business is it of the USA’s State Dept Mandarins that my Greek cousin gets out of traffic violations by bribing the local constabulary?
Are these foreign countries no sovereign? Or are they really colonies of the American empire? If your tribunes are involved in local politics - you are an empire.
I agree with one caveat.
If it’s American money that is being corruptly funneled back to crooked U.S. politicians then it is in our interests to root out the illegal activity.
My guess (only a guess) is that part of their job is to ensure that the foreign aid that we generously give is only used for its intended purposes.
There are larger interests that may drive such initiatives. ‘American Interests’ is a broad term that provides a foundation for US involvement in foreign affairs. In Ukraine’s case, Russian influence has infected Ukranian governance.
Taking the high altitude view of Russia vs the US with Europe as the battleground, the protection of Europe still commands the attention of the US.
Personally, I would prefer that all US bases in the EU be decommissioned to allow for the more aggressive opponents of the EU to finish it off. Europeans have demonstrated their willingness to be ruled. Let it be so.
There are levels of corruption. A small payment to an underpaid civil worker for a small problem is one thing. However, they are talking about $40 billion in missing money. There are certainly instances where we have provided weapons, for example, but they did not end up where they were supposed to. And the US taxpayers had paid for them. I don’t want to vote for public officials who would spend my tax money for things that would go into private pockets.