Most Americans are naturally kind and friendly. They can be touched by those suffering and can show their generosity. The United States is the largest donor of foreign aid. Why then is the United States disliked throughout the world? The goodwill of the American people is not reflected by their government, which is run primarily by the industrial-military complex whose agenda is corporate profiteering and militarization. Most foreign aid is military sales and supplies, which goes to dictators. Some examples of these dictators have been: The Shah of Iran; King Faizal; Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Pakistani generals Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq; Syngman of South Korea; Diem and Thieu of South Vietnam; Marcos of the Philippines; Sukarno and Suharto of Indonesia; Batista of Cuba, Duvalier of the Dominican Republic; Noreiga of Panama; Samoza of Nicaragua; and Pinochet of Chile. About 85 percent of all American arms sales go to non-democratic governments. Should the U.N. ban this supply and punish the suppliers? Without these weapons, most of the violations of human security could not occur. Restricting the manufacture and sale of military supplies can greatly reduce, if not totally eliminate, physical violence in the world.

Walt Birkner

Tooele