Something occurred to generate my looking further into foreign aid. Last week, was listening to National Public Radio and heard of the resistance of spending further billions on the it's reconstruction and military armament. It seems that there is some balking at a mere figure of 5 billion dollars.

REFERENCE URL for below:
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/trade/files/98-916.pdf

As of 2004, our total monetary outlays for foreign aid were diminishing. It's ironic to note that in 2002, while the United States supplied more than any other nation, it was not even in the Top 20 when compared to the percentage of aid against the Gross National Income (GNI). It ranked 22nd overall.

While it was mentioned how Israel was a large recipient of billions upon billions of foreign aid, is there equal realization that Egypt had long been the second largest recipient? Also, there is a categorical breakdown on what constitutes foreign aid. Within the last few years, two more specific categories were added... one being the fight against the HIV/AID's pandemic.

Iraq is now (without question) the largest recipient due to the reconstruction costs and further re-armament of a country whose military was literally destroyed. After the huge expenditures of our nation's budget spent on the defense department's invasion of Iraq, it might actually come down to whether we are no longer spending enough money in the Middle East to maintain the peace that was purchased back in Camp David.

Social Security is still the largest outlay of the 2004 FY budget at 21.3%. Foreign aid only measured out to less than one percent [about 0.9%], excluding Iraq which adds about 0.3% more.

Some of these aid measures have been bilateral funding agreements concerning military purchases from this country. Without the incentives, much of our defensive industrial base would have died out much sooner. While it is bothersome to know we subsidize manufacturing armament for foreign sales, it's not unexpected in today's climate. The agreed purchase of Eurofighter Typhoons by Saudi Arabia clearly demonstrates the competitive nature of the defense industry trying to be competitive in it's own survival. Many are not even aware of the fact that the United States built diesel submarines for other nations out of a shipyard in Mississipi.

During the 80's and 90's, one could perhaps conclude that the supportive funding of the Israelis was in part to create a deterrent to Middle-Eastern conflict. Now instead of nations clearly declaring war upon any state, we are seeing terrorist, splintered and quasi-political organizations carrying the fight against the enemy countries. How much will the U.S. have to spend to buy more peace in the Middle East? What kind of foreign aid stimulus packages will have to be offered to derive a equitable solution to prevent a conflict from escalating? Sometimes it seems like we spend too much money on foreign aid and yet other times not enough.