<
https://theconversation.com/usaid-shutdown-isnt-just-a-humanitarian-issue-its-a-threat-to-american-interests-248939>
"The website for the United States Agency for International Development
(USAid), the world’s biggest aid donor, has gone dark.
Donald Trump’s new administration plans to place the autonomous agency under
the control of the state department. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has
now declared himself as head of the agency to “align” it with Trump’s
priorities.
Several days ago, on January 26, Rubio said: “Every dollar we spend, every
programme we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer
to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America
stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
But the decision to freeze USAid, which is part of Trump’s policy to put
“America first”, places everyone at risk. Organisations that provide vital care
for vulnerable people around the world are being forced to halt operations. The
boss of one such organisation said: “People will die.”
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close adviser to Trump, is playing an
active role in the destruction of USAid. He has claimed – without providing any
evidence – that the agency is “beyond repair”. “It needs to die,” Musk wrote on
X.
Musk, who leads the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), is
gearing to cut trillions of dollars from the US budget. However, by seeing cuts
to USAid as a solution, Trump and Musk are catering to an audience that has a
fundamental misunderstanding about US foreign aid more generally."
Every country in the world now knows that the US is no longer a trustworthy
partner for anything. Time to start negotiating with China.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
