SNIP
Chris,

You don't seem to be aware that a HUGE portion of U.S. government "aid", probably most of that that is not in direct 'payment' for bases or other rights on foreign soil, is in the form of loan guarantees.
Know what most of those "loan guarantees" are for. I thought you might not. They are for sales of things like telephones (systems) for parts/all of a country oncondition that the phones are supplied by [name of U.S. company] or for building a factory where U.S. brand Xxx will be manufactured and things along those lines.

And lots of company money goes for bribes for those things too.

Does that give you a diferent light on this?



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>I think there are 2 separate issues here: One is aid we directly give to countries, the other is U.S. companies setting up factories in third world countries. The aid we give to countries doesn't come from some magical pot of gold we have buried in the middel of Kansas. It is taxpayer money. So as a taxpayer, when I hear people in countries complain about the aid we give, I get very ticked off.
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>If a country doesn't want the aid, a simple "No thank you" will suffice.
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>If a country doesn't want one of our factories, a simple "No thank you" will also suffice.