The recent news that once again the Bush administration plans to announce a $1 billion package of aid to help rebuild another country, this time, Georgia after its rout by Russian forces last month, is yet again a demonstration that the Bush administration is clueless about the use of economic power in foreign affairs. After the recent squabble with Russia over the very stupid decision of Georgia to attack and slaughter thousands of people in the break-away region of South Ossetia, the U.S. is now rushing One Billion dollars to an oil rich country where British Petroleum (BP) and Chevron have been raking in billions of dollars in profits with the recent out-of-this-world oil and gas prices.
Is this really the best way to spend our taxpayers’ money? How desperate is the Republic of Georgia for this so-called aid which in all intent and purpose is another name for a military buildup of a foreign army? How much did the U.S. send in form of “reconstruction aid” to Kenya, Botswana, the Congo etc. after devastating social conflicts? How much did the U.S. send to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after the civil strife those entities went through recently? With the recent natural disasters in the gulf coast areas of the U.S. and in most of the Carribean, $1 Billion would go a long way in easing the pains of the people in Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados etc. But alas, they do not have oil and gas as natural resources. The folks in New Orleans could use $1 Billion in their rebuilding efforts. Where were the military trucks, armored tanks, and police uniforms when the Janjewid decimated local populations in the Darfur region of The Sudan? Why does Georgia get billions of dollars for starting a conflict?
This reckless judgment by an administration that acts without thinking is a serious threat to world peace. Given the hostilities between Georgia and Russia, now is certainly not the time to be rushing military weapons to a country that has shown no sense of accountability and responsibility. It may be a good political move to “show our support for Georgia” on the short term, but what happens after the dust settles and the Russians go back in to level what we spent our taxpayer dollars in building? Are we going to go in and militarily support the Georgian regime then? We cannot be two-faced in all things – on the one hand we want to encourage democracy in the world, and on the other we are encouraging foreign governments to make irrational decisions that could lead to the entrenchment of autocratic rule. By strengthening the hand of the Georgian regime, the U.S. is encouraging them to make a graver mistake by assuming that they can use our billions of dollars to start wars they have no chance of winning with the hope that the United States and NATO will join the conflict to preserve a strategic oil producing country in the far east.
Welcome to the start of another cold war.