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Guest Commentary February 7, 2002
The Price of Peace
The Honorable Robert Byrd
With American troops on the ground in Afghanistan, as an uneasy coalition of nations confronts an unprecedented war on terrorism, it is time for America to rethink its policy regarding financial aid to foreign countries.
September 11 was a wake-up call on many fronts. As a result of the terrorist attacks, we have made sweeping changes to our concept of national security. We are now aware that we live in an age of global instability, of disenfranchised and desperate peoples, and of widespread proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
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And yet, in many ways, the major instrument of our foreign policy -- monetary aid -- reflects a distressing attitude of business-as-ususal. If September 11 has taught us anything, it is that America must move away from using dollars to symbolize the strength of our relations with other countries, and instead focus our energies and our resources on a new foreign policy that complements and enhances our global war on terrorism.
Nowhere is this more true than in the Middle East, where renewed violence has brought Israel and the Palestinian Authority to the brink of open warfare. The U.S., like the rest of the world, has looked on this ceaseless carnage in horror. We have wrung our hands in despair and have condemned the violence in the strongest terms. But we have not matched our words with any meaningful action.
Legislation was recently signed into law that this year provides $5.1 billion in foreign assistance to Middle East nations, with the majority, $2.7 billion and $1.9 billion, heading to Israel and Egypt, respectively. It is as if nothing has changed since September 11. The money goes to these countries with virtually no questions asked. There is no requirement that either country exert itself to end the hostilities in the region in order to receive the funding. That is a missed opportunity on our part. By not using our foreign assistance as an instrument of pressure to bring about change, we are inadvertently helping to fuel the continued cycle of violence in the Middle East.
These are strong words, but we live in perilous times. As we have seen all too clearly, allowing hatred to rage unfettered in that volatile region places our own shores in jeopardy. Doling out astronomical sums of money with no strings attached is a recipe for disaster. We must use our foreign assistance dollars as an instrument of positive change or else end this international welfare program today.
Robert Byrd, a Democrat, is a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The above commentary has been adapted from a weekly column Sen. Byrd issued, February 6, 2002. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
