Foreign Military Aid

Egypt has dominated the headlines for the past two weeks since the military, with the support of many in the population, overthrew the democratically elected government headed by Mohamed Morsi.  The takeover was a coup d'etat, but the US will not label it as such because to do so would  cause it to cut off aid to the country.

Aid to Egypt is what got me more interested in the story.  I was listening to a radio story by journalist Julia Simon on August 8th.  She wrote an article titled, "Egypt May Not Need Fighter Jets, But The U.S. Keeps Sending Them Anyway."  What caught my attention was the first few lines:

"Every year, the U.S. Congress appropriates more than $1 billion in military aid to Egypt. But that money never gets to Egypt. It goes to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then to a trust fund at the Treasury and, finally, out to U.S. military contractors that make the tanks and fighter jets that ultimately get sent to Egypt."(1)

What?  The money never gets to Egypt?  Egypt gets the money in the form of weapons made by US contractors.  These contractors are making weapons Egypt does not even need and possibly may never use.  The lobbying done by these contractors and the Congressmen who authorize the funds could be the subject of another post, but I am more interested in the use of foreign military aid and foreign aid in general.

After researching some US Government websites I found out that the United States provides $5.5 billion annually (FY 2011) to foreign military aid.  The aid gets scattered around the globe with countries like Colombia getting $51 million and Tonga getting $600,000.  The largest share of the pie is shared by five countries who make up over 90%:

- $3,000,000,000 Israel
- $1,300,000,000 Egypt
- $300,000,000 Jordan
- $296,000,000 Pakistan
- $100,000,000 Lebanon (2)

The current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dwarf the above mentioned figures when accounting for the total amount of military investment since the start of the wars - Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.  In FY 2011, Afghanistan received $10.3 billion in military aid and Iraq got $1 billion.

Many questions could be raised from these figures.  We could discuss the Israel-Palestine problem, the conflict of supporting a dubious government in Pakistan, or the need for the US to support a nation like Lebanon which has supported terrorist acts against Israel through Hezbollah.  But the question I would like to raise is the legitimacy of devoting this much money to foreign nations while the US is heavily in debt.  $5.5 billion of military aid to which the US has committed is only a smaller fraction of the larger $49.5 billion in combined economic, military, and humanitarian aid. (3)

The United States uses these funds to influence itself around the world.  As a promoter of free market capitalism it wants to keep trade routes open; priding itself as having the longest running constitution it wants to promote democracy; and having experienced its own social problems, it feels compelled to assist other nations less fortunate.  In the age of imperialism nations fought battles to prove who was mightier.  Today, nations prefer to settle their differences diplomatically, using a combination of carrots and sticks that often take the form of foreign aid.

There is an argument to be made for paying off Egypt to keep the Suez Canal open.  Such a trade route is economically valuable.  It is also strategically significant since it provides naval vessels access to the Persian Gulf.  A sudden conflict with an unpredictable nation like Iran would require access through the Red Sea.  And Egypt has become an ally in our support of Israel against its many Arab and Muslim enemies in the region.

But as Julia Simon wrote in her article, not all of the aid is being well spent.  The military aid going to Egypt never makes it there.  I bet much of the aid we see going to the top 90% is not being spent well either.  How can our lawmakers, with good conscience, continue to authorize the disbursement of these funds, which come strictly from individual taxpayers and businesses in America, when the money is not well spent and when we are running a huge national budget deficit?

Congress is just now talking about curtailing the amount of military aid to Egypt in light of the new government crackdowns on peaceful protesters.  I hope this aid gets cut off completely so it can be put to better use at home.  Furthermore, I hope it sheds light on the fortune being shipped overseas while we have many areas in which to invest at home.


(1) http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/08/08/209878158/egypt-may-not-need-fighter-jets-but-u-s-keeps-sending-them-anyway

(2) http://www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/sat/c14560.htm

(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_foreign_aid