Rep. Ron Paul writes that Congress last Friday authourised a foreign aid spending bill which includes “$150 million for development in Gaza, in addition to the billions we already give the Palestinians every year.”
What billions is he talking about? Millions go to USAID, not to Palestinians directly, which USAID then funnels to one Israeli project or another, including repairs to infrastructure that’s been destroyed for the purpose of creating facts on the ground. It’s the Israelis who are indeed receiving billions per year.
The article Paul links, ‘US lawmakers agree to $20.9 bln in foreign aid‘ By Vicki Allen [02 Nov 2005 Reuters] says as much:
The bill also has $150 million in economic aid for the West Bank and Gaza region, doubling current aid and matching Bush’s request. The money is only for projects approved by the U.S. Agency for International Development, not for direct budgetary assistance.
Apparently even Kuwait will receive part of “$110 million for the Middle East Partnership Initiative, ostensibly for economic development.”
This Kuwait:
KUWAIT: With soaring oil prices projected to swell state coffers by a further $26 billion this year, Kuwaiti authorities are facing mounting pressure to distribute some of the windfall as cash handouts to the Gulf state’s already wealthy population. Under proposals being pushed by MPs, each family in the tiny energy-rich emirate would receive a cash grant of 10,000 dinars ($34,000).
[…]
Two versions of the plan are being canvassed ahead of the November 16 session.
The first, championed by veteran tribal MP Khalaf al-Enezi, would see each family receive the $34,000 as a grant.
The second – advocated by another tribal lawmaker, Daifallah Buramia – would see the money handed out to write off bank loans with compensation for families that have not taken out loans.
In defense of his proposal, Buramia said it was far better to spend the money on Kuwait’s citizen population of just under a million than to spend it on debt forgiveness for historic foe Iraq as the government is proposing.
“Distributing our money to our people is far better than granting it to Iraq and other states who stood against Kuwait,” after Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion, he said.
And Bono‘s $5 billion a year promise, already cut to $1.75, is cut even further:
Bush’s Millennium Challenge Account, which allocates foreign aid to countries that meet standards of reform, would get $1.7 billion. That is $282 million above current levels, but far below Bush’s request as lawmakers complained the program has had a slow start and delivered little aid.