Buying War Allies and 'Friends' with Foreign Aid
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
January 25, 2003
With an American invasion of Iraq imminent, nations in the region are increasingly worried about the political, social, and economic consequences of a second Gulf war. Not surprisingly, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, and Turkey are demanding more money from the U.S. to offset the costs, economic and otherwise, of such a war. Other Middle East countries are sure to follow. Yet the more foreign aid we send to the Middle East, the more hopelessly entangled we become in the intractable conflicts that define it. Worse yet, the practice of buying friends casts very serious doubt on the lofty claims that we are promoting democracy. If our plans for Iraq will bring peace and stability to the region, why do we have to buy off the Middle East governments that stand to benefit? The truth is that those governments, even our ostensible allies, have very serious doubts about the wisdom of our proposed invasion of Iraq. Money- lots of it- makes them more amenable to our cause........
http://www.antiwar.com/paul/paul61.html
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What Killed the Four Horsemen?
by George F. Smith
Once upon a time, in the first half of the 1800s, we had something called a free economy. It was not fully free, only nearly so. But freedom brings little glory to the politicians, so they decided to get more involved. In return for favors, they gave taxpayer loot to their friends to build railroads. During the latter part of the 19th century, the economy thrived but so did corruption. The politicians, who are selfless and therefore good by nature, passed laws to fix the corruption but that only made the problem worse.
The politicians pondered this result. So did the people. Both blamed the problem on crooked entrepreneurs. Unlike the politicians, the entrepreneurs were anything but selfless. The people read about dishonesty, they read about rich tycoons and believed all of the rich got their wealth by robbing the honest. So they demanded more laws. They voted for politicians who promised to help them.
And help them they did. In 1913 the politicians created an income tax to soak the rich. They also created a central bank called the Federal Reserve to avoid periodic business slumps. The people's selfless servants would bring justice and stability to the market at last...........
http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/smith/smith2.html
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Tolerating Intolerance
By Herbert London 02/25/2003
On February 5, the Wall Street Journal published a remarkable story about how taxpayer-supported operations within prisons are used to spread radicalism and sedition in America.
Although the story focused on one chaplain, Warith Deen Umar, it could be written about dozens of Wahhabist imams who have recruited inmates for the Muslim faith and, in many instances, exploited an antipathy to "the system" in order to promote anti-American sentiment.
In fact, the growth in conversion to Islam in the United States very closely corresponds to the increase in incarceration rates among African-Americans. Prison officials contend that these imams preach the value of work, the blessings of family, the importance of education, and the need for personal responsibility. What they do not say is that they also preach an intolerance for people and sects that don't follow Islam's teachings.
Moreover, these imams are not monitored during their prison tours. Prison officials contend that religious thought and prayers are constitutionally protected from any interference by authorities. In many instances, these imams are subsidized by the Saudi Arabian government and Muslim charities. Several of the mosques sponsoring this proselytizing have been raided by FBI agents who suspect that Saudi money is being transferred through them to Middle Eastern terrorists...........
http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/techwrapper.jsp?PID=1051-250&CID=1051-022503D
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