Tom Minear: The terrifying twist in Donald Trump’s extreme aid freeze
When Donald Trump froze foreign aid, guards responsible for thousands of ISIS fighters walked off the job. Tom Minear argues it should make him think twice about his America First moves.
Destroying Islamic State was one of Donald Trump’s proudest achievements in his first term. That he started his second term by nearly triggering a mass breakout of ISIS fighters from prison camps in Syria would therefore be somewhat amusing if it wasn’t downright terrifying.
Here’s what happened. Four days after the President’s inauguration, his administration froze almost all of America’s $US60bn foreign aid program for three months, so that the effectiveness of the spending and its utility to Mr Trump’s foreign policy could be reviewed.
There were limited carveouts – including to maintain military aid in the Middle East – but the order had an immediate impact worldwide. It suspended HIV treatments in Uganda, closed hospitals in Thailand, cut off counter-narcotics programs in Colombia, and shut soup kitchens in Sudan. The US, after all, is responsible for 40 per cent of global humanitarian aid.
You can question whether one country should bear such an immense burden. What is not in doubt are the very real risks in the US abandoning its obligations without warning.
Which brings us to Syria, where according to Middle East analyst Charles Lister, guards responsible for almost 10,000 battle-hardened ISIS militants housed in prison camps suddenly stopped getting paid – and so many of them stopped showing up for work.
The camps have long been in limbo, given international opposition to repatriating the fighters and their families, and former MI6 counter-terrorism director Richard Barrett said ISIS terrorists had already been plotting a breakout amid the collapse of the Assad regime.
Suddenly, with the suspension of US aid, the doors were all but open. Mr Lister said funding was restored several days later – for two weeks at least – and the guards were back on duty.
Crisis averted. At the same time, the Trump administration wound back the broader freeze, enabling cash to keep flowing to lifesaving programs providing medicine, food and shelter.
It is not unreasonable for Mr Trump to want to assure himself that taxpayer dollars are being spent appropriately. And as former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta told African leaders: “He has no reason to give you anything … What are we going to do to help ourselves?”
But the President’s order was extreme – and extremely dangerous. With the future of US aid hanging in the balance, Mr Trump should think twice about the consequences of his America First isolationism. If it’s not ISIS fighters running free, it may well be China filling the breach.
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Originally published as Tom Minear: The terrifying twist in Donald Trump’s extreme aid freeze