GIVING AID TO THE BEGGARS!

Submitted by Sarah (Sweden), Apr 7, 2006 at 12:41

(1) Submitted by Sword of Islam, Apr 3, 2006 :
"Aid to Iran. Why?! Given the recent arguments re Iran's nuclear program and their childish attitude re the cartoon controversy can anybody explain to me why we are sending them aid in the aftermath of last week's earthquakes?"

(2) Submitted by Danish/American, Apr 5, 2006:
"Why should we give aid to the Iranians?"

(3) Submitted by Danish/American, Apr 4, 2006:
" ..aid..what a joke and a waste! I agree with you Sword..100 percent. Why give those unappreciative monsters any aid? ..I think we should all just turn our backs to them on this one...earthquakes...so many dead..hmm..sounds to me like perhaps they are not pleasing Allah.")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear all,
Look at the above comments that were posted within 24 hours of the eathquake that killed and injured hundreds of people. (Doesn't the last comment sound like a vulture rejoicing the death of a human beings)

Why donor countries give aid? Can Danish/American please give one single example of a state that showed its preference for ethics to its national interests? Who? When? How?

Donor countries give aid because IT IS THEIR OWN INTEREST TO DO SO! Most foreign aid is given for variety of political, strategic and economic reasons that benefit the donor countries in the longer term. It is a known fact that Development Assistance (ODA) is designed to achieve political objectives other than (or rather than) developing the recipient countries.

Dear Danish/American, you must be aware that for your country, national security considerations have always influenced foreign-aid decisions. Remember, in the 1980s, how Cold War considerations caused a great increase of U.S. aid to Central America and the Caribbean and aid to Africa declined? And recently, concerns over the instability in the Middle East has made Israel, Jordan and Egypt the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid? Another example of using foreign aid for serving strategic interest is the case of Pakistan. Before 9/11, USA had allocated just $10.5 million in aid for Pakistan for year 2002. After the 9/11 terrorist strikes, the amount jumped to $673 million – a 64-fold increase. This boost made Pakistan the world's largest recipient of development assistance in 2002. Afghanistan saw its aid from the US grow almost 100-fold from $2.9 million to $278 million, and aid to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan was also multiplied.

Other donor countries also have their own objectives. For example Sweden targets aid toward 'progressive' societies, France seeks to promote the French culture and language (For instance Alliance Françoise provide French language teachers to various training academies of foreign governments. Foreign diplomats are given special scholarships to learn French in France). Japan's aid flowed to neighboring Asian nations in which Japan has the greatest commercial interests etc.

There are also economic reasons behind foreign aid. Providing aid to LDCs ensures that the savings gap and the foreign exchange gap are filled. Also, less and less development assistance is given in the form of grants and donor countries are giving ‘tied aid' which often makes the recipient country buy things from the donors. This type of aid, as we all know, may not always be in the best interests of the recipient country.

(have you read the article ‘Stingy Samaritans' at Global Policy Forum? http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/oda/2005/08stingysamaritans.htm)

Now you find out the answer why no matter how you shout at this forum, your country keeps on giving aid to beloved Muslims. You people better contact your Congressman (or MP in case of Sword the senior) to change your policy, for your country's aid is something that is controlled by YOUR GOVERNMENT, and not by the poor Iranian victims of the earthquake!

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".