Media Advocacy: Aid Matters

Merilie Robertson is a Bread activist from Canoga Park, CA.  She submitted a letter to the eidtor of the LA Times in response to the February 16 Op-Ed "Soft power bargain."  Her letter ran in the Monday, February 21, 2011 edition of the LA Times.

Aid matters

Re "A soft bargain," Opinion, Feb. 16

Micah Zenko and Rebecca R. Friedman are right about the importance of foreign assistance, which accounts for a miniscule part of the federal budget but has great potential to prevent conflict.

Certainly mistakes have been made in the administration of foreign assistance, but the U.S. Agency for International Development has been implementing reforms to make aid more efficient, transparent and accountable. More needs to be done, but this is not the time to eliminate or cut assistance. Foreign assistance empowers people to overcome poverty, hunger and disease.

Military leaders recognize how important it is to invest in development. Fighting poverty is a lot cheaper than fighting armed enemies. Congress must make foreign aid more effective, not eliminate it.

Merilie Robertson
Canoga Park