http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/usaid/ en-us Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:23:14 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2137295/posts Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/11/20081122-3.html For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary November 22, 2008 Statement by the President on Zimbabwe White House News Nearly eight months have passed since the Zimbabwean people voted for a new president, yet they still are governed by an illegitimate regime that continues to suppress democratic voices and basic human rights. In addition to its disastrous economic policies which have forced half the population to rely on food assistance, the Mugabe regime is now assaulting doctors and nurses, denying citizens access to basic medical services, and stealing donor funds intended... WHITEHOUSE.GOV - News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2137295/posts#comment Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:23:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098390/posts USAID Defunds International Abortion Provider Posted on October 04, 2008, 12:36 PM | Deal W. Hudson For those who think, erroneously, the Bush administration has done little to reduce abortions during its two terms, I would draw attention to the announcement that USAID has withdrawn funding from Maria Stopes International. Invoking the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, Kent Hill of USAID explained the action based upon the "coercise abortion practices" of Maria Stopes. Four years ago I met with a group of Catholic legislators in Peru -- the purpose of the meeting was to hear their complaints about U.S. funding of Maria Stopes.... insidecatholic.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098390/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 02:42:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070226/posts WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2008 – The Defense Department and U.S. European Command stand ready to assist as required to save lives and alleviate human suffering during the humanitarian crisis in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a senior EuCom official said yesterday. “Working side by side with the republic of Georgia and international organizations, U.S. European Command is providing immediate life-saving support and restoring essential life-support systems as part of a coordinated interagency effort,” Michael Ritchie, EuCom’s director of interagency engagement, said in a teleconference with bloggers and online journalists to discuss the relief effort dubbed Operation Assured Delivery. Operation... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2070226/posts#comment Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:32:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2061482/posts For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary August 13, 2008 Setting the Record Straight: President Bush Has Taken Action to Ensure Peace, Security and Humanitarian Aid in Georgia The Wall Street Journal Inaccurately Claims The Administration Was Slow To Respond To The Conflict Between Georgia And Russia The Wall Street Journal asserts that "U.S. credibility is … on the line as the Bush Administration stumbles to respond to the Russian invasion of Georgia. So far the Administration has been missing in action." (Editorial, "Bush And Georgia," The Wall Street Journal, 8/13/08) President Bush and his Administration have taken aggressive... The White House http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2061482/posts#comment Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:29:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2051310/posts Aid to Pakistan Evaporates by: Audra Taylor, July 25, 2008 Much of the financial assistance donated by other countries toward the betterment of Pakistan’s health and population sectors is not being utilized efficiently, according to Dr. Samia Altaf, who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Islamabad. Despite the $58 billion in assistance Pakistan has received from 1950-1999, Pakistan has little to show for it, said Altaf, the author of Aid Without Development: A Tale of International Consultants, Aid and Development. At the Woodrow Wilson Center, where Altaf is now a scholar, Altaf described her perspective on... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2051310/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:12:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034124/posts BASRA, Iraq, June 20, 2008 – The provincial reconstruction team for Iraq’s Basra province, along with the Gulf Region South district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the United Nations Development Program concluded a two-day budget execution support workshop June 18 at the international airport here. The event provided a clear understanding of how the international community can support the provincial governor’s office and technical directorates for the design and implementation of projects for the rest of the year, said Army Maj. Daniel George, a PRT engineer assigned from Gulf Region South’s... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034124/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:49:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019782/posts US aid to Palestinians to total $550 mln - official WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The US government will provide $550 million in direct financial support to the Palestinian Territories in 2008 Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019782/posts#comment Thu, 22 May 2008 17:30:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999368/posts There is an emerging mini-me of Hugo Chavez — Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia. And his country is starting to pay the price for it. Bolivia may end up not merely fragmented but wracked by bloodshed if Mr. Morales continues to emulate the senseless and destructive policies of his patron. Mr. Morales has turned frequently to the Chavez playbook on "revolutionary" brinkmanship for policy guidance. From promoting a bespoke constitution, which removed inconvenient term limits, to undermining democratic institutions, to approving populist measures that hurt poor people the most, he has made all the moves favored by his role... New York Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999368/posts#comment Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:25:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1224773/posts Attention all prospective Republican lobbyists: K Street kingmaker Grover Norquist has announced his wedding date, so you’ll know when to send gifts. Problem is, the location and the gift registry are still up in the air. Norquist, 47, will exchange vows with 31-year-old Samah Alrayyes of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Saturday, April 2, 2005, he has revealed, although he told The Hill last week that he promised his bride-to-be the wedding will not turn into a political event. A source at USAID said Norquist joked that the couple should register at Costco. It makes sense, given... The Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1224773/posts#comment Thu, 23 Sep 2004 16:00:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993281/posts WASHINGTON - An aide to President Bush has resigned because of an alleged misuse of grant money from U.S. Agency for International Development and his former employer, a Cuban democracy organization. Felipe Sixto was promoted on March 1 as a special assistant to the president for intergovernmental affair and stepped forward on March 20 to reveal his alleged wrongdoing and to resign, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said on Friday. The matter has been turned over to the Justice Department for investigation, Stanzel said. He said Bush was briefed on the case and felt that the approriate action was being... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993281/posts#comment Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:02:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990554/posts The Bush Administration’s search for partners to promote “peace” and “democracy” within the Palestinian Authority (PA) resembles Lord Charles Bowen’s “blind man in a dark room looking for a black hat – which isn’t there”. For the first time, the Bush Administration plans to give $150 million in cash directly to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Treasury, as part of a $496.5 million “aid” package, including $410 million for development programs. This added to the $86.5 million for CIA “security training”, which Congress authorized in April 2007. The CIA has apparently assumed the Palestinian terrorist-training role previously held by the former... American Center for Democracy | Frontpagemagazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990554/posts#comment Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:57:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990355/posts JAKARTA (Reuters) - A small group of Indonesians in their late 40s who attended the same elementary school in central Jakarta recently gathered for a reunion and to pledge their support for an absent former classmate -- Barack Obama. Obama's late mother came to Indonesia with her young son in the late 1960s to join her second husband knowing next to nothing about the huge, developing Southeast Asian nation. While her son left after four years to study in Hawaii, for the Kansas-born mother of the Democratic Party presidential hopeful the relationship with Indonesia was to grow into a lifetime... al Reuters via Yahoo! News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990355/posts#comment Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:38:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978708/posts WASHINGTON - The U.S. government's humanitarian relief agency will significantly scale back emergency food aid to some of the world's poorest countries this year because of soaring global food prices, and the U.S. Agency for International Development is drafting plans to reduce the number of recipient nations, the amount of food provided to them, or both, officials at the agency said. USAID officials said that a 41 percent surge in prices for wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months has generated a $120 million budget shortfall that will force the agency to reduce emergency operations. That... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978708/posts#comment Sat, 1 Mar 2008 10:48:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1971618/posts GRAND COLLINE, Haiti (AP) - Far from the spreading slums of the Haitian capital, past barren dirt mountains and hillsides stripped to a chalky white core, two woodcutters bring down a towering oak tree in one of the few forested valleys left in the Caribbean country. Fanel Cantave, 36, says he has little choice but to make his living in a way that is causing environmental disaster in Haiti. And these days, he and his 15-year-old son, Phillipe, must travel ever farther from their village to find trees to cut. "There is no other way to get money," the father... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1971618/posts#comment Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:22:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961824/posts FOR A FEW FLEETING moments Monday night--what should have been vivid and affecting moments--television coverage of President Bush's final State of the Union address fastened on the image of a mother and daughter from Moshi, Tanzania. They sat, their faces alive with hope, in the first lady's box seats. Viewers were not told, and no one seemed inclined to tell them, that Tatu Msangi and her daughter Faith quite literally owe their lives to the Bush administration. After Msangi became pregnant, she went to a clinic at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center and learned she was HIV-positive. Five years ago... Weekly Standard http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961824/posts#comment Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:34:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960007/posts BAGHDAD — With nearly five years of war taking a toll on Iraq’s domestic poultry industry, overall chicken and egg consumption is down in the country, while 40 percent of the commercial eggs consumed in Baghdad are imported. But with recent security improvements, achieved through the cooperation of local residents and a counter-insurgency strategy implemented by Coalition Forces, an opportunity has been gained to resume production. In Mahmudiyah, an agricultural community south of the Iraqi capital, and a traditional hub of Baghdad province’s poultry industry, some of the most violence of the war effectively halted production of a variety of... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960007/posts#comment Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:53:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1954740/posts A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan. Star Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1954740/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:50:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1954895/posts Former Michigan congressman Siljander indicted by Gazette Staff and News Service Reports Wednesday January 16, 2008, 4:41 PM Gazette fileFormer U.S. Rep. Mark Deli Siljander A former Kalamazoo-area congressman was indicted Wednesday for his part in an alleged terrorist fundraising ring that is accused of sending more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan. Mark Siljander, a former Three Rivers resident who represented southwestern Michigan from 1981-87, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He allegedly lied about lobbying senators... Michigan Live.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1954895/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:37:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948934/posts A previously unknown militant group claimed responsibility on a militant Web site for the slaying of a U.S. diplomat in Sudan on New Year's Day, according to an intelligence group monitoring extremist groups. "We can't authenticate this communique, which is posted by a member of the forum, but at the same time, because there is a claim of responsibility, we chose to send it out to our subscribers," Rita Katz told The Associated Press. Katz is the director of monitoring institute, SITE Intelligence Group. Katz added that she had never heard of the group before. The group calls itself Ansar... MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948934/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jan 2008 22:50:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1946710/posts KHARTOUM, Sudan - An American diplomat and his driver were shot to death Tuesday in the Sudanese capital, the U.S. Embassy said, a day after a joint African Union-United Nations force took over peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region. It was not immediately known if the motive for the attack was political or a random crime. "This afternoon, the American officer succumbed to his injuries and passed away," said Walter Braunohler, the spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. Braunohler said the diplomat, whose name was not released, worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry identified... AP Via Yahoo! News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1946710/posts#comment Tue, 1 Jan 2008 13:52:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926814/posts WASHINGTON - The agency that distributes billions of dollars in American foreign aid cannot "reasonably ensure" that its money does not wind up in terrorist hands, an internal audit has concluded. The United States Agency for International Development funded groups with ties to terrorism on at least two occasions, the agency's inspector general found in an audit. That included approving $180,000 for a Bosnian group whose president was on a "watch list" that barred him from entering the United States, and $1 million for an aid "partner" who later pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about his involvement with... Kansas City Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926814/posts#comment Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:59:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910887/posts Al Gore’s campaign against global warming is shifting into high gear. Reporters and commentators follow his every move and bombard the public with notice of his activities and opinions. But while the mainstream media promote his ideas about the state of planet Earth, they are mostly silent about the dramatic impact his economic proposals would have on America. And journalists routinely ignore evidence that he may personally benefit from his programs. Would the romance fizzle if Gore’s followers realized how much their man stands to gain? Earlier this year Gore experienced a notable public relations debacle. The Tennessee Center for... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910887/posts#comment Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:35:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900498/posts The United States' relationship with the United Nations is complex. The U.S. has vast and varied national interests in every region of the world, and the U.N. and its affiliated organizations have potential utility in helping the U.S. address foreign policy priorities... Foreign Aid Does Not Promote U.S. Policies at the U.N ... -U.S. foreign assistance has not led recipients to support U.S. positions in the U.N. On the contrary, on non-consensus votes and non-consensus important votes, most recipients of U.S. assistance vote against the U.S. more often than they vote with the U.S. -Economically free countries are more likely... http://www.heritage.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900498/posts#comment Sat, 22 Sep 2007 04:47:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1896155/posts The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), is a private, nonprofit organization, was founded in the early 1980's under the influence of Ronald Reagan for "supporting democracy abroad". So we've had that going on for years. The NED basically does overtly what the CIA used to do covertly. It funds civil society groups and organizations that fit within U.S. strategic interests in various countries. National Endowment for Democracy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1896155/posts#comment Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:54:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887719/posts The Bush administration has decided to defer the start of a new security screening program for thousands of officials of organizations seeking funds from the Agency for International Development until it reviews all the comments from those affected, according to USAID's acting deputy administrator, James Kunder. Although USAID said in a Federal Register notice last month that the program would become effective yesterday, Kunder said that it "would be effective, but not operational" until there is "a systematic review" of the views of the private organizations involved. The screening plan would affect top officials and board members of foreign aid... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887719/posts#comment Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:04:21 GMT