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US foreign aid: A spotlight
on war
By Emad Mekay
WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush unveiled
on Monday a proposed increase in foreign aid in the 2004
budget, with most of the extra going to countries that
have joined Washington in its war on terror.
"The budget for 2004 meets the challenges posed
by three national priorities: winning the war against
terrorism, securing the homeland, and generating
long-term economic growth," Bush said in a statement on
the White House website.
State department
officials told reporters that the increase in the
foreign affairs budget, part of the State Department
allocations, would target security assistance to help
key countries that have signed on to the anti-terrorism
campaign, launched after September 11, 2001.
According to the State Department, US$4.7
billion have been set aside for counter-terrorism,
compared to $2 billion for what the department said
would be new programs for the war against poverty.
"There is no doubt that this budget funds the
president's commitment to winning the war on terror,"
said Christopher B Burnham, assistant secretary for
resource management. "It's reflected throughout the
numbers and reflected throughout the foreign
assistance."
The amount would include military
assistance to what the officials called "frontline
states", a group of 25 countries that includes the
Philippines, Afghanistan and Yemen, nations that have
joined the war on terror. The aid would be in the form
of defense services, equipment and training.
Of
the $2 billion assigned for the fight against poverty,
$1.3 billion will go to the Millennium Challenge
Account, an assistance program proposed by Bush last
year to tie increased development aid to governments'
efforts to improve education, democracy and other
governance indicators.
The new program reflects
the administration's commitment to help create
democratic, economically secure countries, Burnham said.
Despite accusations from anti-poverty activists
that the account would be inadequate to meet the huge
needs of poor nations, officials said that the amount
was adequate to fully fund the first of a five-year
program.
"One point three billion dollars is
already a considerable amount, understanding that it
takes some lee time before you can develop the kind of
pipeline to execute the project the administration
envisions for the Millennium Challenge Account," said
Joseph W Bowab, deputy assistant secretary for foreign
assistance programs and budget.
States receiving
account funds will be answerable for the money and will
need to meet certain criteria established by a new
authority that will monitor the account. All countries
with average per capita incomes below $1,435 will be
eligible.
Officials say that the new funding
mechanism will reward nations that root out corruption,
respect human rights, adhere to the rule of law, open
their markets and invest in health care, schools and
immunization.
Sixteen countries are on the
initial list to be evaluated after Congress approves the
program in coming months, said Patrick Cronin, assistant
administrator at the US Agency for International
Development (USAID).
Of the $2 billion dollars
in the budget request for anti-poverty efforts, $450
million would go to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
focusing on Africa and the Caribbean. On other fronts,
more than $730 million is budgeted for support
anti-narcotics efforts in the Andean region. Colombia
will get $463 million. "That's another war we intend to
win," Burnham said.
Such increases fall under
the umbrella of $28.5 billion allocated to foreign
affairs agencies, an 11.2 percent increase from 2003.
But those numbers contrast starkly with the whopping
allocations Bush requested for the US military - $380
billion, a $15 billion rise from 2003.
The
budget also calls for $41 billion for homeland security,
a jump of $2.5 billion or 7.6 percent, which would more
than double funding over the past two years. Total US
government spending in 2004 will be $2.2 trillion, a 4.2
percent increase over 2003 levels.
(Inter Press
Service)
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