Lets's begin by pointing out that the Bush regime has turned the regular foreign aid budget into a tool of war diplomacy.
Small countries that currently have seats on the U.N. Security Council have suddenly received favorable treatment for aid requests, in an obvious attempt to influence their votes.
Cynics say that the "coalition of the willing" President Bush spoke of turns out to be a "coalition of the bought off" instead.
But it's clear that the generosity will end as soon as Baghdad falls.
After all, look at our behavior in Afghanistan.......
In the beginning, money was no object, victory over the Taliban was as much a matter of bribes to warlords as it was of Special Forces and smart bombs.
But chimpy promised that our interest wouldn't end once the war was won.....this time we wouldn't forget about Afghanistan, we would stay to help rebuild the country and secure the peace.
So how much money for Afghan reconstruction did the administration put in its 2004 budget?
None.
The Bush team forgot about it.
Embarrassed Congressional staff members had to write in $300 million to cover the lapse.
You can see why the Turks, in addition to demanding even more money, want guarantees in writing.
Administration officials are insulted when the Turks say that a personal assurance from Mr. Bush isn't enough.
But the Turks know what happened in Afghanistan, and they also know that fine words about support for New York City, the firefighters and so on didn't translate into actual money once the cameras stopped rolling.
Promises are irrelevant.
