POSTED RESPONSE TO AN EDITORIAL IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
The person writing this editorial is naive and foolish.
Foreign aid is not given for the reasons that generally are
advertised, although donor governments like to be able to pat themselves on the
back for doing worthy things.
Foreign aid is given for influence in international affairs.
It buys loyalties and votes in various international
institutions.
It buys favoritism for doing business with the donor
country's business establishment.
In the case of an imperial power like the United States, it
supplies great leverage - through quiet threats of its removal - for votes in
the United Nations supporting American policy.
Foreign aid in the real world differs not greatly from the
bribes great multinational firms use to get foreign governments to buy their
planes or tanks or telephones.
No power on earth is going to change that reality.
