Quotes of the Day

--Declassified cable from US Ambassador Robert Gribben to the State Department, dated 9/20/2003.

This paper will briefly describe (i) the human cost of the war in the DRC, (ii) the relation of foreign aid to Ugandan and Rwandan defense budgets, and (iii) the economic gains accrued to both countries. It will show that there has been ample documented evidence from 1997 onwards of Rwandan and Ugandan responsibility for gross human rights violations, and that major donors should have been aware of these crimes. This paper will demonstrate that the occupation of the DRC can not only be considered partly as an investment that provided high returns for both countries, but also that the continuation of Western aid implicitly condoned both their occupation of the DRC and the associated human rights violations. Arguments by the donor community about the futility of suspending aid to both countries were disproved when temporary aid suspensions were either threatened or implemented. Even if suspending aid had been ineffective, it seems hard to understand why countries that have the resources to invade their neighbors would need donor support.

--Timothy Reid, "Killing them Softly: Has Foreign Aid to Rwanda and Uganda Contributed to the Humanitarian Tragedy in the DRC?" Africa Policy Journal, Spring 2006


Amount the US is providing Rwanda this year in direct bilateral aid, not including military programs: $240 million.