Coalition of the needy...
US turns to 'dollar diplomacy'
March 26 2003 at 10:36AM
It can pay to be a member of United States President George Bush's coalition against Iraq.
Wrapped into the $75-billion (about R600-billion) war budget he proposed to the congress on Tuesday were grants and loans worth billions of dollars for what he called "partners and friends" in the Middle East, including Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
Assistance is also being offered to many less obvious members of Bush's "coalition of the willing", from Afghanistan and Colombia to the Philippines and Slovakia, which Bush said would help them "wage the broader war on terror".
Administration officials say the US aid was urgently needed to cushion the economic shock of war in the Middle East and beyond.
Help them 'wage the broader war on terror'
"Their economies are directly affected by the war and we are doing what we can to help them," an official said, noting that many countries supportive of the war were left out of the war budget and other nations, including Israel and Egypt, received far less money than they were seeking.
Critics derided US dollar-diplomacy as a bullying tactic to get less well-off countries to do Washington's bidding.
Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, called Bush's coalition of the willing "C-O-W for short".
"It appears to me that the US is the "cow" - the cash cow in this case. We are the ones being milked," Byrd said.
According to White House documents, here's how some US allies would benefit from Bush's budget plan, awaiting congressional approval:
'We are the ones being milked'
Israel: $1-billion in direct military assistance and $9-billion in loan guarantees that could help Israel weather the economic shock of a war with Iraq. Israel had requested nearly $4-billion in direct military aid.
Under the aid package, the United States would deduct from the face value of the loan guarantees any Israeli expenditures on settlement activities in Palestinian areas.
Jordan: $700-million in economic aid, including $250-million to address Jordan's "most pressing budgetary needs and debt service obligations". Jordan would also receive $406-billion in military aid.
Egypt: $300-million in economic grants, a portion of which may be used to secure up to $2-billion in loan guarantees. Egypt had asked for $4,4-billion in war-related aid.
Turkey: $1-billion in economic aid, which could support up to $8,5-billion in direct loans or loan guarantees. The White House dropped plans to provide $6-billion in direct aid and up to $24-billion in loans after the Turkish parliament refused to allow 62 000 US troops into the country.
Pakistan: $175-million for border security and to buy aircraft and radar systems.
Afghanistan: $127-million would help the Afghan government combat terrorism; $170-million would be used to train and equip the Afghan National Army; millions more would fund reconstruction efforts.
West Bank and Gaza: $50-million in direct support to "reduce terrorism and support the peace process".
Colombia: $34-million to combat drug trafficking and terrorist activity.
Bush's war budget will also provide $90-million to Bahrain, $61,5-million to Oman, $30-million to Djibouti, and $15-million each to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Other beneficiaries include Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Philippines, say White House documents. - Reuters
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