"Let nothing human be alien to me"- Terence

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Insanity

World Food Program, citing lack of funds, is cutting food aid to Yemen.  Only 30% of the pledged $100 million has been sent- and meanwhile, the US alone is sending $150 million in military aid.  I know that a hundred million bones is a lot of cheddar, but it isn't that much relative to how much we spend on national security.  I was hoping that this administration in particular would be aware of what seems like a mind-numbingly obvious fact by now: food aid, particularly in a country like Yemen, is part of national security.  We can wipe out as much of the leadership as we want, but a starving and desperate Yemen becomes a failed state, a real haven, and we'll get drawn in further.   And while I am in favor of military assistance, there is little more we can do in terms of negative propaganda than propping up an increasingly toxic and illegitimate government while letting bellies go empty.