USAN Letter Published: Times Of Trenton (New Jersey): Help Our Allies, Not Our Enemies
Because I am concerned about our debt and excessive spending, such as on foreign aid to nations that work against us and kill our soldiers, and since the Senate and House Appropriations Committees are considering the FY2012 foreign aid bill, I would like to make several points clear:
No direct aid should go to the Armenia-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) region. The NK authorities are a military junta that occupied Azerbaijan illegally and should not be rewarded with any aid under any pretext or guise!
Reduce all aid to Armenia, which, despite getting almost $3 billion in U.S. aid, has been doing worse every year in every way, from democracy and human rights to compliance with international laws. Armenia sold weapons to Iran and Iraq, which resulted in the killing of American soldier Matthew Straughter and wounding of three other U.S. soldiers. This includes reduction in FMF, IMET, and economic aid. We gave too much to them already.
Sustain current and past administrations’ aid requests for FMF, IMET, economic, technical, humanitarian and democracy aid to Azerbaijan, which is a steadfast ally helping U.S. interests in the region and the Muslim world.
Remove the discriminatory Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act of 1992. The president has been waiving it since 2001, and it needs to be removed completely from the books.
We need to spend less, and spend wisely, helping only true friends, and not rewarding hostiles. Foreign aid should be based on our national interests and need of countries that receive it. And we should never send aid to illegal regimes like Nagorno-Karabakh that only perpetuate war.
Iclal Atay,
West Windsor
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