Pundits have endlessly been comparing recent legislative battles to those of their counterparts in the 90s, both in terms of similarity and because that was the last time we had a Democratic administration and a Republican House. Here’s another unfortunate similarity:
The Horn of Africa region has been parched by the worst drought in 60 years and the United Nations now estimates that 12.4 million people are facing severe food shortages and are in desperate need of aid.
But while the U.N. says $2.5 billion is needed to alleviate the suffering only a little over $1 billion has so far been committed by donor nations. On Monday the U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, called on the international community to do more.
“A little less than two weeks ago, we declared a famine in two regions of Somalia,” said Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
“Unless we see a massive increase in the response, the famine will spread to five or six more regions. Tens of thousands of Somalis have already died, and hundreds of thousands face starvation,” she told a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Somalia doesn't look much different now from when we attempted to intervene in a similar situation 19 years ago. Ending foreign aid consistently polls well with the public as a means of reducing the deficit and government spending, even though it accounts for an infinitesimally small portion of the federal budget. And I get it – why should we spend money abroad when we can’t even fix our own problems at home? But crises like endemic famine in Somalia are the very types of things that we ought to be seeking to end with these funds (see this New York Times story for an idea of just how far the country has deteriorated). Pissing $3 billion a year down a hole so that Israel - a nation with a flourishing economy and universal healthcare no less - can buy freedom bombs and tanks and Apaches from US defense contractors? Not so much.
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