USAID Inadvertently funneled tax dollars to terror related groups

[scottinnj]

The State Department just keeps fucking up (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312222,00.html)



The audit was triggered this spring, after gun battles at Islamic University in Gaza pitted Fatah forces, loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, against their rival, Hamas, which controls the university and has been designated a terrorist group by the United States. After the shooting stopped, Fatah displayed large caches of weapons recovered from inside the university, and the Washington Times reported the school had received more than $140,000 in USAID funding.


Questionable Aid "In the basement of Gaza Islamic University, a U.S.-funded institution," said Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who sits on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and requested the audit, "Palestinian police found several Iranian agents and an Iranian general teaching the students in the U.S.-funded chemistry lab how to make suicide bombs."

Yay! We are the proud owners of a school that teaches its students to kill us with suicide bombs. Can't wait to see what the Masters Degree department is studying.

[Yerdaddy]

Couple things I don't like about the story:

1) Most of what's being passed off as analysis is actually quotes from a single Republican Congressman, (he doesn't seem to be one of the lunatic ones, from what I can see), and not the myriad of policy experts and agency insiders who normally would comment in the real press about such reports. So in judging the information in the article by it's quality of reporting there's little substance. Given that Fox isn't a news organization, but a conservative advocacy organization, and that the State Dpt is traditionally a punching bag of the right for it's percieved disloyalty to Republican Presidents, (it's actually hated for it's relative independence from political appointee group-think because its people actually live in foreign countries and can see how retarded the Washington conventional wisdom about foreign countries usually is - and because policies based on ignorance of actual events could get State Dpt staff killed), I'll wait for the real news agencies to report the USAID Inspector General's findings.

B) What other trouble has the State Dpt gotten into recently?

http://uncyclopedia.org/images/4/4a/The_Artist_Formerly_Known_As_Prince.jpg) Does this qualify us as official state sponsors of terrorism? I bet technically it does.

and,

Mexican Staring Frog) AID is an independent agency which merely recieves advisement from State, so I wouldn't blame State for these findings.

[A.J.]

Since our bestest buddy Israel cut off Gaza, and since there is no infrastructure to speak off in the Palestinian territories, the Palestinians are heavily reliant on foreign aid such as this to help provide the barest of necessities and to establish a functional infrastructure. That some money could have been siphoned off by terrorist groups is not unusual. Arafat was doing it for years to line his own pockets.

[high fly]

I read about this in the Washington Post at least a month ago.

It's no surprise.
After all, Republicans all want to be like Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, don't they?

[Crispy123]

I read about this in the Washington Post at least a month ago.

It's no surprise.
After all, Republicans all want to be like Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, don't they?


Why disparage the Dutch???

http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2002/07-26-goldmember-inside.jpg

[high fly]

[QUOTE=CPW3;1523499]Why disparage the Dutch???

[QUOTE]

I have no idea how Ronald "Dutch" Reagan got his nickname.

Nor do I understand why certain people balk at criticizing him for rewarding terrorists who murdered hundreds of Americans.

All they ever do is change the subject when one brings it up..................

[A.J.]

I read about this in the Washington Post at least a month ago.

It's no surprise.
After all, Republicans all want to be like Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, don't they?

Why disparage the Dutch???

http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2002/07-26-goldmember-inside.jpg

[QUOTE=CPW3;1523499]Why disparage the Dutch???

[QUOTE]

I have no idea how Ronald "Dutch" Reagan got his nickname.

As a boy, Reagan's father nicknamed him "Dutch", due to his "fat little Dutchman"-like appearance, and his "Dutchboy" haircut

[scottinnj]

B) What other trouble has the State Dpt gotten into recently?



It's not just lately, it is a pattern. The State Department sent Graham Martin to be the Ambassador to Vietnam under Nixon and Ford, he promised South Vietnamese President Thieu that Nixon, then Ford after Nixon's resignation would militarily support Vietnam if the Communist North broke the cease fire. Way to go Martin, making false promises that exasperated the panic in Vietnam when the B-52s didn't return to provide cover for the ARVN. And BTW, this was before Fox News was the "enemy" of the state department-hell, Fox News didn't even exist back then and the state department acted like a bunch of pussies then, even under a Republican/Republican Administration.

Recently, Foreign Service Officers cried and whined at a "town hall" style meeting at the State Department about being "forced" into duty in Iraq. Waaah, Waaaah, Waaaah. I'm so sorry that Fox News reported that story by itself while CNN, MSNBC and the liberal elite decided the FAKE STORY (http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/military_desertion_rates_and_t.html)
of troop desertion was more important then pointing out the fact that the State Department is full of pussies and whiners who are civilians and can leave at any time they disagree with the President, instead stay and complain and actively work to weaken the Presidents' credibility and interfere with the military's work in Iraq, e.g. Paul Bremer-the "Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance" in Post-invasion Iraq.

As you can see, I am not a partisan in this as I have named Republicans in my analysis of your second question. But I reject your argument that Fox News is just a propaganda tool of the Right. My argument is simply this: The State Department is a branch of the Administation, Democrat or Republican that has FAILED the American foreign policy throughout my 39 years of life. Whetther it is working against the current administration, or through it's idealistic and naive notions that we can trust our enemies (e.g. Madeleine Albright's FAILED negotitiations with the North Koreans) The State Department is an organization that I DO NOT TRUST.

[Crispy123]

Recently, Foreign Service Officers cried and whined at a "town hall" style meeting at the State Department about being "forced" into duty in Iraq. Waaah, Waaaah, Waaaah. I'm so sorry that Fox News reported that story by itself while CNN, MSNBC and the liberal elite decided the FAKE STORY (http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/military_desertion_rates_and_t.html)
of troop desertion was more important then pointing out the fact that the State Department is full of pussies and whiners who are civilians and can leave at any time they disagree with the President, instead stay and complain and actively work to weaken the Presidents' credibility and interfere with the military's work in Iraq, e.g. Paul Bremer-the "Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance" in Post-invasion Iraq.


This just proves that Fox is a tool of the administration and that you have drunk their kool-aid. If you really think the news story is about people who can quit and complain about going to a post that is full of corruption and death then there is nothing I can say to change your point of view. The Presidents credibility has been weakened quite effectively by him and the people he surrounds himself with. The fact that American soldiers are quiting in numbers not seen since Vietnam, the last time senior military leadership and a president royally F*ed similar shit up, is a very interesting story.

[TheMojoPin]

Uh-oh, that kooky "liberal elite" is at it again!

[Kevin]

Uh-oh, that kooky "liberal elite" is at it again!

I blame the whites..

[TheMojoPin]

I wish I was part of the liberal elite. They have all the fun. What am I doing wrong?

[sailor]

I wish I was part of the liberal elite. They have all the fun. What am I doing wrong?

don't the liberal elite claim there is no liberal elite? i see right thru your ruse.

[Kevin]

don't the liberal elite claim there is no liberal elite? i see right thru your ruse.

First rule of the Liberal elite..

YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT THE LIBERAL ELITE!

[TheMojoPin]

don't the liberal elite claim there is no liberal elite? i see right thru your ruse.

Well, I never! Harumph! Bosh! Flimshaw!

*Monocle falls out into champagne glass*

[sailor]

Well, I never! Harumph Bosh! Flimshaw!

*Monocle falls out into champagne glass*

flimshaw! hahaha

[patsopinion]

why do we donate at all
outside of major incidents/disasters should the government be going around handing out our money?
isnt that what tax credits are for?
i mean wtf?
is our national debt/social security so perfect that we should be giving aid to people that submit a form asking for it?

[A.J.]

My argument is simply this: The State Department is a branch of the Administation, Democrat or Republican that has FAILED the American foreign policy throughout my 39 years of life. Whetther it is working against the current administration, or through it's idealistic and naive notions that we can trust our enemies (e.g. Madeleine Albright's FAILED negotitiations with the North Koreans) The State Department is an organization that I DO NOT TRUST.

To be fair, the State Department has become impotent over that time and the Department of Defense has gained preeminence. The Undersecretary of Defense for Policy has more juice than the Secretary of State. Look at how Powell was treated compared to Rumsfeld during the first term. In the beginning of this country's history, being Secretary of State was the stepping stone to the Presidency. I wonder if State's diminished place is partly the result of the rise of the military-industrial complex that Ike warned us about in his farewell address.

I interned at the State Department in college and I've worked with State Department folks during my stints overseas. For the most part they're pretty intelligent, personable, hardworking people who deal with A LOT of shit from both Washington and the host governments and yet they still manage to keep their sanity. At the same time, I have met some of the oddest motherfuckers imaginable who are in some pretty important positions. In any case, these are the people on the ground who know more about what's going on in country (wherever that may be) than anyone in Washington ever could. I'd trust their opinions over some desk jockey in Washington any day. This is part of the reason why I argue that we should reestablish embassies in Iran, Cuba and North Korea.