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Fear, pain and hunger: The dire impact of shutting down USAID in Africa, leaving a vacuum for China and Russia

Landon Caeli

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What good did it do the Samaritan?

Well you guys are the ones who don't want China giving to the poor. That’s faulty thinking... It's Corrupt.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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Soup kitchens can no longer feed the hungry. First responders are unable to reach the dead and wounded. Mothers and fathers search in vain for the medicines that keep them alive.

Last week, thousands of “stop-work” orders went out to employees and contractors for the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, which has long been Washington’s main vehicle for global aid.

“We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” billionaire Elon Musk ... boasted. Calling the agency a “radical-left political psy op” and “a criminal organization,” Musk said it was “time for it to die.”

In the most desperate places, like war-ravaged Sudan, the fallout has been immediate. Half the population of 50 million needs food aid, and famine is spreading as Islamist militias and their allies in the military battle a paramilitary accused by Washington of genocide. The USAID suspension has halted national food programs serving millions and shuttered hundreds of community kitchens

A worker for another medical aid group recounted receiving a desperate call on Saturday from health officials in Omdurman, northwest of the capital, begging them to send an ambulance to a market that had just been bombed.

“Unfortunately I told them that the ambulance is no longer available because of the suspension; it was a rented vehicle so the owner took it back,” the medical aid worker said. At least 54 people were killed and 158 injured in the attack, local authorities said.

The stop-work orders have also grounded efforts to contain a deadly hemorrhagic Marburg outbreak in Tanzania, the spread of an mpox variant killing children in West Africa, as well as the monitoring of a dangerous bird flu that has been identified in 49 countries, according to Atul Gawande, the former head of global health at USAID.

Traditionally, USAID has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Washington. In addition to saving lives, its backers say it helps stabilize some of the world’s poorest and most volatile regions while acting as a bulwark against Russian and Chinese influence.

After a bipartisan outcry, Rubio on Saturday announced a specific carve-out [again the administration rescinding its own actions] to enable continued funding for PEPFAR — a universally celebrated HIV/AIDS program launched by former president George W. Bush that is credited with saving millions of lives in Africa and which 20 million people still depend on. Despite the exemption, many PEPFAR initiatives have been thrown into chaos.

“I’m told that drugs are still being withheld at clinics in Africa,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) said Monday on X.

I'm all for a Gilligan style Ethics of Care in U.S. Governmental administration.
 
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BCP1928

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Well you guys are the ones who don't want China giving to the poor. That’s faulty thinking... It's Corrupt.
Who says we don't? You are the one who suggested we let China do all of it. Why is that?
 
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QvQ

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What people know is the US is about to default on the Debt.
Congress hasn't passed a budget since 2019
The Congressional Democrats are not making any points by furiously lobbying for USAID when the entire funding of the US government is at serious risk, borrowing money to pay the interest on the debt.
Maybe all those Congress people like Schumer who are out in the street protesting Trump could go back to work and get a sensible budget passed, aye?
 
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essentialsaltes

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Well you guys are the ones who don't want China giving to the poor.
Nobody's saying that. What we're saying is that these countries will be more politically inclined to Communist China than to us.
 
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Landon Caeli

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Nobody's saying that. What we're saying is that these countries will be more politically inclined to Communist China than to us.

I don't know what that means when you say "more politically inclined". What would that even entail in the real world?

From what I've seen, 3rd world countries often have a difficult time jumping straight into first world style democracy. It's even harder if they're Muslim.

...So, China needs to start performing. We have nothing to lose from it.
 
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essentialsaltes

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What people know is the US is about to default on the Debt.
People with thousands in credit card debt still find it possible to give small sums to charities.
The Congressional Democrats are not making any points by furiously lobbying for USAID
sez you
Maybe all those Congress people like Schumer who are out politicing and protesting Trump's cuts to USAID could go back to work and get a sensible budget passed, aye?
The Republicans have had a majority in the House for 2 years and counting. They still can't seem to get their ducks in a row.
 
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essentialsaltes

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I don't know what that means when you say "more politically inclined". What would that even entail in the real world?
Since you seem to have a what's-in-it-for-me attitude, how about buying weapons from the US rather than our global adversaries?
 
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Landon Caeli

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Since you seem to have a what's-in-it-for-me attitude, how about buying weapons from the US rather than our global adversaries?

I don't have that attitude. I want others to live up to the humanitarianism that we've already been doing for years. They might need to have their arm twisted, but they still need to.

They can buy weapons from whoever sells the best product at the best price, if that's what they're into.
 
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essentialsaltes

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I don't have that attitude. I want others to live up to the humanitarianism that we've already been doing for years.
Not any more.

Now maybe the US will have to live up to the humanitarianism that other nations are demonstrating.
 
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BCP1928

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A few years ago China built hundreds of miles of heavy truck capable highway in Kenya from the seaport at Mombasa up to the lakes region. They put a lot of money into the Kenyan economy to build a road useful to Kenya and trained a lot of Kenyans in heavy equipment operation and other things that will help them build their own roads. What did the Chinese get out of it? A road to efficiently transport the rare earth ores they are buying in central Africa from a friendly local government. I was there, I saw it happening. We could have done it, but we didn't.
 
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BCP1928

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I don't have that attitude. I want others to live up to the humanitarianism that we've already been doing for years. They might need to have their arm twisted, but they still need to.

They can buy weapons from whoever sells the best product at the best price, if that's what they're into.
We don't do as much per capita as many other Western nations. In terms of the share that comes out of each of our pockets we are way behind.
 
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Landon Caeli

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Not any more.

Now maybe the US will have to live up to the humanitarianism that other nations are demonstrating.

And the UN has nothing to say to China or Russia, or the Muslim countries, so they'll have nothing to say to us either. But they should.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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We don't do as much per capita as many other Western nations. In terms of the share that comes out of each of our pockets we are way behind.

And now with A.I. moving in on our already outsourced jobs for 20 years, we'll have so much more to give ..................................
 
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essentialsaltes

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And the UN has nothing to say to China or Russia, or the Muslim countries, so they'll have nothing to say to us either. But they should.
I can't understand what you're trying to say here, but if these countries become more politically inclined to China (or Russia), the odds increase that General Assembly votes will go in favor of what China and Russia want. The UN may increasingly say things to us that we don't like, if our former friends defect to other factions.
 
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Landon Caeli

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I can't understand what you're trying to say here, but if these countries become more politically inclined to China (or Russia), the odds increase that General Assembly votes will go in favor of what China and Russia want. The UN may increasingly say things to us that we don't like, if our former friends defect to other factions.

So helping the poor in Africa equals higher power positions within the UN... I see! Now we're getting somewhere!
 
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essentialsaltes

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Foreign aid is also broadly popular with the American people (or at least it was in 2017).

1738785080208.png
 
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Nithavela

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I don't see the problem. Just don't feed the africans for a couple of months and most of them won't be hungry anymore.

Once there is enough free real estate, the USA can move in and develop the places into luxus resorts.
 
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