Politics
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February 17, 2025
Wars against Trump and Musk agencies should be opposed according to principle. However, we cannot overlook that USAID is the destructive arm of American imperialism for decades.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) will speak at a rally outside the U.S. Capitol on February 5, 2025 in Washington, DC to support USAID.
(Nathan Posner/Anadoll via Getty Images)
Earlier this month, Congressional Democrats held one of the first major protests of the new Trump era. Famous Democratic lawmakers Gathered It is in the process of being present outside the closed headquarters of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). It’s decimated Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. Politicians opposed mask efforts to eliminate staff from almost every institution, and denounced federal acquisitions by a single private citizen.
However, when they rushed to the defense of USAID, Democrats also misrepresented the unpleasant truth about the agency. For decades, it is an essential arm of American imperialism that often serves as a tool for regime change, election interference, and destabilization. Countries all over the world.
For example, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy. pride USAID confirmed that “fighting terrorist groups across this world” will “follow China all over the world” and “do not monopolise important minerals and port infrastructure contracts” and “freedom warriors” wherever they are. (Support) that term. Meanwhile, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen; Called Efforts to close USAID “An absolute gift to our enemies, Russia, China, Iran, and more.”
Samantha Power, former director of USAID, bares the way the US weaponizes humanitarian aid by masking strategic interests with altruistic rhetoric. recently New York Times op-edPower works to strengthen US financial interests, such as by helping US companies “enter new markets,” and uses its leverage, government agencies have been “political capital.” “It has created a huge number of stores.” New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat who once worked for USAID, was even dull. “USAID is not a charity,” he wrote. post X. Stopping it means hampering America’s ability to keep America safe. ”
To be clear, attempts to destroy Musk’s agents are not the cause of celebration. Musk and Trump’s attacks on USAID, and the federal bureaucracy, are largely warrants. illegal And undemocratic. There are lifesaving programs all over the world I was thrown into chaosincluding health and HIV services, and food aid worth $500 million, currently at risk of corruption. The Trump administration is also planning to absorb the agency into the State Department, which would be much worse. (These movements are already Faced with a set of legal challenges. )
The masks tried to justify the crackdown from several different angles, push Conspiracy, misleading claims, and total falsehood. He calls USAID “the nest of radical left Marxist vipers who hate America” and “criminal organisation.” He lied about his power pay at the agency and falsely claimed USAID funds. Politics. At one point, Musk supported a post called “the biggest global terrorist organization in history.”
However, this is not a principled anti-imperialist calculation. 2020, Musk It has been declared In a deleted tweet since then: “We’ll all be coups! We’ll deal with them,” referring to the US-backed coup against Bolivia’s Evo Morales. This is a country with a wealth of countries where lithium and other minerals are essential for the production of Musk electric vehicles.
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But in the same way, there is no reason to blindly defend USAID.
It is no secret that the institution is an extension of America’s offensive foreign policy. It was first created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to counter the influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In the decades since then, I have USAID I played it a Important role In efforts designed to crush the socialist movement, thwart government change and protect the interests of American companies around the world. That’s also amazing It’s not effective In actual development. Most USAID spending is sent strictly to American businesses and sources rather than local organizations that actively undermine the development of these countries and rely on the United States. The US government is also known to use the agency to fake its advertising stores by funding. For example, in 2010, USAID reportedly led the project secretly. Create “Cuban Twitter” is intended to stir up anxiety to cause changes to the regime.
The US is frequently To blame Groups like Houthis defendant The United States and Israel use humanitarian aid as a cover for spying, attacking aid convoys or blocking humanitarian access. But how does Washington claim moral highlands when his own officials proudly acknowledge that their aid programs are not purely humane but strategic tools. Can it be done? If US aid is often a Trojan horse for broader geopolitical ambitions, it is reasonable for foreign governments to be skeptical of US-linked aid programs. The moment when the United States is openly connected, the performance of mineral extraction, political manipulation and its global powers stops it from becoming benevolent in any meaningful sense.
The Carnegie Fund for International Peace, a DC-based think tank, has recently been released piece About the “relentlessness” of the Trump administration’s sudden change in American foreign aid. But when making their claims in the defense of the USAID, they confirm that our foreign policy critics have long been arguing.
“The idea that US foreign aid is a kind of festival of generous charity, separated from the interests of the US,” says Thomas Carrothers, director of Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program. I am writing. Please look at the list of ” The largest recipient of US aid– It’s not a coincidence. They are almost all security partners or security concerns. ”
He’s right. And while it is important for people to stand up against illegal attacks on Musk and Trump’s government, it is equally important that these agencies do not pretend to be beacons of good sense. We need to move beyond these simple binaries and drive a model that rejects both Trump’s fascism and the kind of imperialism that has long defined USAID.
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