U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Monday called on the U.S. government to send more money to Middle East countries in turmoil to push them toward democracy.
“Foreign aid is a very complicated, controversial topic, particularly when you’re broke. But … it is good for the American people and the American government to reach out and help those who live in peace with us.
“Find me an example where two democracies went to war,” he added. “Democracies have a way, through the rule of law, of working out their problems.”
Me:
Immediately after World War II, “the Defense Department, the CIA, the State Department, and USAID provided assistance to police and internal security forces in key strategic regions,” said a 2006 RAND Corporation report. The flow of aid to successive regimes in the Middle East has been consistent ever since.
In a June 2010 report for the Congressional Research Service, Jeremy Sharp writes that, in addition counterterrorism, aid to Middle East regimes is an attempt to “encourage peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors,” and serves for “the protection of vital petroleum supplies.” This latter justification was, of course, understood by early post-war national security planners. As a Top Secret National Security Council briefing put it in 1954, “the Near East is of great strategic, political, and economic importance,” as it “contains the greatest petroleum resources in the world” as well as “essential locations for strategic military bases in any world conflict.”
Continued and in some cases increased foreign assistance after the September 11th attacks had the benefit of giving “the United States leverage on key foreign policy issues, since it can make assistance contingent on cooperation,” says the RAND report. But these assistance programs “can have a negative effect on democratic development by strengthening a state’s capacity for repression” and, as one study concluded “the more foreign police aid given [to repressive states], the more brutal and less democratic the police institutions and their governments become.”
Sen. Lindsey 'spanky' Graham seems to lie about any number of things. Golly and isn't that just curious.
Sen. Lindsey said: “Find me an example where two democracies went to war".
The US has overthrown a number of democracies already, simply because they were democracies (i.e.: Chile, Guatemala, Iran, Venezuela….). Aren´t they examples of two democracies going to war?
… it is good for the American people and the American government
Its good for the American government and the recipient government- not the American people. But then of course, this Patrician knows whats good for Americans and by golly they are gonna get it good and hard.
Send more of our stolen money to despots!… That's the ticket, Lindsay, you thieving whore! Once again I'm dumbfounded by the asinine comments that burble forth from this lying ass hat. Would somebody please call the asylum. One of the patients got out.
Two democracies going to war__1. Union States of America against Confederate States of America __2. Israel aganist Lebanon__3. Finland against Great Britain (WWII) __4. Germany against Great Britian (WWI)
hey don;t seem 2B able to s TOP lying….. Democracy's cures
The voters in South Carolina need to vote this Zionist Israel-first TRAITOR to America out of office.
If only Graham would get caught in a Mark Foley/Larry Craig moment all those homophobic bigots in SC would vote him out of office.
mr Graham, apparently, has never heard of the War of 1812, either that or he thinks the US isn't a democracy… perhaps he's right.
I love this 'argument' – 'show me two democracies that ever went to war..
He is discounting the idea that maybe, possibly democracies can be oppressive and tyrannical. Athens was a democracy and also a despotic empire.
Does being a 'democracy' give one the automatic right to attack a non-democracy? That's apparently the implication of Senator Graham.