President Obama is still under the delusion that his "root causes" scenario for fighting terrorism can work. In his Arab outreach speech tomorrow, the president is expected to announce a very large aid package to the Middle East and North Africa - as if throwing money at the problem has ever worked anywhere.
Wall Street Journal:
President Barack Obama will announce this week a new aid plan for the Middle East and North Africa that U.S. officials say will be far bolder than previous American economic assistance to the region.Mr. Obama will outline the plan, which could include debt cancellation and a reprogramming of financial aid the U.S. already provides to countries like Egypt, in a speech he is scheduled to deliver Thursday at the State Department.
Whatever aid he announces, though, is unlikely to assuage Arab governments, which had been hoping the White House would push forcibly for a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The president's aides say his speech will focus only briefly on the issue.
"At the end of the day, the Palestinian cause remains a dominant issue," said a senior Arab official. "A speech by the president without addressing the conflict is unlikely to generate much enthusiasm."
Mr. Obama met Tuesday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, who has been pressing U.S. officials to take a more aggressive role in the peace process, according to Arab diplomats.
After the meeting, Mr. Obama said the U.S. will provide Jordan with hundreds of millions of dollars through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the government institution that finances and insures private business to promote economic growth. The result, according to the U.S., will be roughly $1 billion for economic activity in Jordan. The president also pledged 50,000 metric tons of wheat.
Glad to hear the president is intent on creating jobs somewhere - if not the US.
It's nonsense, of course, Muslim men don't become extremists because they are poor. There are hundreds of examples of middle class and upper middle class kids being successfully recruited to carry out terrorist attacks. It is doubtful any aid will reach the poor anyway due to the corruption of the governments that will be receiving our tax dollars. Most of it - as it always does - will end up in the pockets of the leadership, their families, and their cronies. To think otherwise is stupid and naive.
That pretty much describes Obama's foreign policy.
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