Posted on 04/23/2009 9:18:45 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
WASHINGTON (AFP)--The United States risks losing influence to China because it is too slow to deliver aid to needy nations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Thursday.
Speaking to a congressional committee, Clinton cited the example of an emergency deal signed by China last month to help bail Jamaica out of its financial crisis.
"They (Jamaica) have just signed a memorandum of understanding with China...and now they have got a government-to-government relationship with China," Clinton said.
"We have to be sure we have in place the safeguards so that the money goes where we intend it to go," Clinton told the subcommitee on foreign operations of the House Appropriations Committee.
She also urged Congress to move quickly to deliver aid for Mexico's drug wars.
"It's just too slow, and when I was in Mexico, that's what I heard from both the president and the foreign secretary," Clinton said, referring to talks with Felipe Calderon and Patricia Espinosa last month in Mexico City.
She said the United States, for example, has been slow to release the money needed for Blackhawk helicopters to fight the drug cartels.
"Let's try to get to the bottom of this because you all do your work, you get it appropriated, I go around talking about what we need to do and it's kind of hollow, and we're losing ground," Clinton said.
"And we're seeing particularly China come in right behind us, because countries get tired of talking to our bureaucracy and decide they're going to cut a deal with someone else."
Clinton cited a report in The Washington Post saying China and Jamaica signed contracts for loan packages totaling $138 million in March.
The newspaper also said China had signed multi-billion-dollar loans for oil with Russia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Venezuela. It also showed Beijing had signed multi-billion dollar currency swaps with Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Belarus and Russia.
The newspaper said Jamaica went to China because the United States was preoccupied with its own financial problems.
Short pier long walk go now
please
China has $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves. We are the world’s largest debtor nation. You can’t give what you don’t have.
Oh, it’s all so important now that she’s there.
Mmmm. China has captured the hearts and minds of African kleptocrats. Good for them.
Hillary is making Condi look creative by comparison.
She must have received a breifing from Charlie Tree.
Hey Clinton, get out of your Ivory Tower and look around you. AMERICANS are the needy ones today.
Howz that old song go?
“Money can’t buy ya love....”
We have pi$$ed away trillions in ‘foreigh aid” - tell me what we have to show for the dough....
The the new China “smart men with suits” play Santa for a while.
We gonna give ‘em money we borrow from the Chinese? Or stuff we just print ourselves?
“She also urged Congress to move quickly to deliver aid for Mexico’s drug wars.”
So they can have *more* former Mexican Army guns that trace to the US.
Bingo! They are giving the money we owe them.
What a load of horse manure. The United States is losing influence around the world at the speed of light because we have an utterly feckless administration which is busily disassembling our society, our security apparatus, and our financial institutions. Everyone on Planet Earth except our Ministry of Propaganda (otherwise known as the MSM) can see clearly that we’ve got a losing team on the field and we’re headed for the basement.
Hillary Clinton is today’s STUCK ON STUPID award winner.
Let’s see, what’s my position on the present government of Jamaica, no matter who’s giving them aid? I’m agin ‘em.
Under the Billary Doctrine, we should be giving aid to Cuba before they become a Russian client state again. NOT.
“Let’s try to get to the bottom of this because you all do your work, you get it appropriated, I go around talking about what we need to do and it’s kind of hollow, and we’re losing ground,” Clinton said.”
“And we’re seeing particularly China come in right behind us, because countries get tired of talking to our bureaucracy and decide they’re going to cut a deal with someone else.”
“Clinton cited a report in The Washington Post saying China and Jamaica signed contracts for loan packages totaling $138 million in March.
The newspaper also said China had signed multi-billion-dollar loans for oil with Russia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Venezuela. It also showed Beijing had signed multi-billion dollar currency swaps with Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Belarus and Russia.
The newspaper said Jamaica went to China because the United States was preoccupied with its own financial problems.”
Am I wrong to think all this is very well thought out and being played as if by script ... I remember hearing that Geithner was in on planning 18 - 24 months before the election ...
“Hillary Clinton is today’s STUCK ON STUPID award winner.”
indeed...the whole administration and congress are stuck on stupid everyday. This nation will not survive these fools
A lot of people on FR (including myself) thought that given a choice between Hillary and BO, that Hillary would have been a better President than BO had she captured the nomination and beaten McCain. But her recent missteps as SOS has convinced me that she would have been just as bad as the Teleprompter Kid.
A red by any other name smells just as bad...
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