New boondoggle

Make no mistake about this. The air tax proposed and adopted by France and now agreed to by 12 other countries is an international tax.

None of the funds collected will go into national treasuries.

Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the money would go to a central medicine buying facility France and Brazil are working to set up which would notably work to give AIDS and HIV sufferers cheaper and easier access to anti-retroviral drugs.

The "development aid" money will go mainly to African countries as Africa "will always need outside aid."

Africa, in addition to need, has some of the most corrupt governments on the planet who were quick to sign up to help launder the money. Because that is exactly what this is about. Lack of fiscal accountability is the main attraction, and the inclusion of the United Nations is evidence that this is just the new food-for-oil program. Call it the "HIV drugs for socialism" program.

Al-Jazerra had one additional paragraph to the article.

It was "absolutely necessary" for countries to come up with new ways of raising development aid, he said, but only "on condition that that is not a pretext for states to reduce their contributions elsewhere".

For development aid, read "United Nations" support.