Sheer Uselessness?

Canadian troops are leaving Haiti, which is probably a very good indicator that the U.S. is having some effect on checking epidemic corruption in connection with international aid that use countries like Haiti to, in effect, launder money disguised as humanitarian aid or development funds. The Canadian government would only keep troops there if they thought there was a buck in it. So, it is a safe bet that there's no money to be had. Score one for the U.S.

No doubt, like the Food for Oil program in Iraq which involved kickbacks and bribes, inflated and/or outright fraudulent invoices for services or items never delivered, and a surcharge on every deal to the dictator, the "humanitarian" money pit asks governments to pledge money which is then administered by international organizations like the United Nations along with favored NGOs (non-government organizations) whose very merit is that they are never audited, unlike the gift-giving nation's programs might be. (Unaccountability is a big plus here.) This is a wonderful opportunity for the gift-giving country politicians to hand over taxpayer money, without fear of audit, delivering a somewhat smaller amount to the international organization or NGO, which then delivers an even smaller percentage to the formed-for-the-purpose international aid-delivering administrative group which, in turn, delivers an even smaller percentage to the corrupt third world leader who, no doubt, gets a sizable kickback for allowing the scheme in the first place.

Along the way some benefactor country businesses are rewarded with a contract or two, probably in exchange for a political donation that is at least equal to the contract. All in all, it's a way of life for internationalists who manage to taint every country they assist, thereby guaranteeing perpetual poverty - hence, countries that need even more assistance.

Every now and again, though, there are healthy signs that corrupt Internationalism is suffering some setbacks. As with Yassir Arafat and the PA.

While the major American media, led by the New York Times, are ignoring the implications, not everyone is so dishonest. From the Economist:

TEN years after returning in triumph from exile to take charge of a newly formed interim Palestinian Authority (PA), Yasser Arafat is feeling the wrath of his own people, who have become increasingly frustrated at the corruption, nepotism and sheer uselessness of his crumbling regime.

Useless, except, I imagine to funnel European tax money through PA hands where it, no doubt, recycles back to crooked EU politicans.