Criticisms
Currently, Congress wants to cut defense spending by lowering the amount of aid given to foreign militaries. Money saved from proposed cutbacks could benefit the U.S. military, which is closing military bases, freezing pay raises for service members, and cutting the defense budget by $78 billion for 2011.
Particular targets of criticism include
- Funds appropriated to the State Department and Defense Department represent the vast majority of unclassified military aid and assistance. The public does not have any way of tracking classified programs administered by the U.S. intelligence community.
- The U.S. provides assistance to the Colombian army which has documented ties with paramilitary groups on the U.S. terrorist list.
- Foreign aid often aids the giver, not the recipient.
- Corruption is a major problem. Funds often go directly to leaders who may not share the aid with citizens.
- The United States gives the same amount of money to its top five aid recipients as they give to the rest of the world.
- Military aid went to Latin American dictatorships in the second half of the 20th century.
- Tunisia has received military aid for several helicopters despite blatant human rights violations, abuse of power and the existence of a police state.
Read more about this topic: United States Military Aid
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—William James (1842–1910)
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—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)