Our Government spends millions helping ungrateful countries around the world. Wh

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   Ken Bartonposted 14 years ago

   Our Government spends millions helping ungrateful countries around the world. Why?
   
   When we have high unemployment at home and our own borders being invaded daily, why does our Government spend so much money overseas rather than here at home?

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   Filouposted 14 years ago

   What, in your view, is "ungrateful" in relation to the "help" your government is providing? What kind of "help" is your government providing? Which countries in particular do you mean? I would like to suggest reasons, if there are any.

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   Old Empresarioposted 14 years ago

   Our government gives a lot of money to other governments around the world. We call it foreign aid. Does it actually help people in other countries or have we merely been creating vassal states for cheap labor and resources? If we stop paying it, prices of all goods made overseas will skyrocket here and the largest retail employers in the US (Wal-Mart, etc) will eventually fail. It will hurt us in the short term because of the rise of unemployment and the collapse of corporate America. But perhaps something bright could grow out of this in the long term.

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   Valoric Fireposted 14 years ago

   Chalmers Johnson said it best in Blowback, the American people may be ignorant of their governments true involvement in other countries, but the people from those countries are certainly aware of what is being done in the name of imperialism, the military industrial complex and the corporatocracy. 
   
   Read Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins for a good understanding of what happened in the Banana Republics and what the standard plan of action is in the so-called search for resources/cheap labor and the methodology of US corporate and military/covert acquisition.
   
   Also, I recommend reading:
   “The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence” — Victor Marchetti and John Marks
   “Inside the Company” — Philip Agee publishes a diary of his life inside the CIA. Agee has worked in covert operations in Latin America during the 60s, and details the crimes in which he took part.
   "Imperial Hubris" by Anonymous- ex-CIA operative/Intel on current Middle east issues.

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   peterxdunnposted 14 years ago

   It works like this. America gives money to other countries. They spend the money on buying military hardware from the US and allow the US to maintain bases within their borders. None of this money makes it down to the level of ordinary people. It doesn't help build schools, hospitals, roads etc. What doesn't get spent on military merchandise gets pocketed by the elites that run the countries in question. Sometimes there is money left over to pay 'kickbacks' to the CIA officers who negotiated the aid in the first place.
   
   This is why there are pro-American REGIMES all over the world. The general populaces of the countries these regimes govern, however, are all anti-American. They don't want American aid.
   
   At the moment the government of Bahrain is using what it says is 'tear gas' against its own citizens. There is evidence, however, that this 'tear gas' is actually nerve gas: it has killed people by stopping them from breathing. The markings on the empty gas canisters read, 'Made in the United States of America'.
   
   Hoorah for democracy.

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   Wayne Brownposted 14 years ago

   The rationale becomes they are buying "access", the opportunity to have an embassy, to communicate openly, and obviously to give the CIA a platform within the country. We call the money by a lot of terms but in effect it is nothing more than bribes to keep the country somewhat in our corner or at best on the fence.  In the end, it is really just another waste of taxpayer money in the name of some high level government officials ever expanding their power and empire. Just one more reason why we are headed down the financial crapper. WB

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