Word: usaid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
About a fifth of the land area of Vientiane is taken up by what is called the USAID compound-the center of operations for the United States Agency for International Dement in Laos. All American aid to Laos-military or otherwise-comes under the title of USAID, due to the 1962 Genva Agreement which forbids all foreign troops and all advisors, instructors, and foreign civilians "connected with the supply of war materials...
This "Home, Home on the Delta" type predominates in USAID, but neither the Embassy nor USIA could survive without him. He is not bothered by contradictions between today's and tomorrow's official rationalizations for American actions, nor does he bother to construct claborate and doomed-to-fail personal justifications for his guilty participation, as does the liberal mentioned above, nor is he disturbed by such phenomena as the ubiquitous anonymous presence of CIA agents-"ghosts." When asked to justify the American presence in Laos, this cog is likely to respond with something like this: "Do you realize that before...
...much will it all cost? [I ask the head of USAID in Laos, "Is there any way of estimating approximately how much money we give Laos every year?" He laughs and answers, "Why, of course, 50 million a year-exactly-no more, no less...
American officials here point out that the proposals submitted by USAID/Laos director Charles Mann last summer were scotched. The plans called for setting up a large USAID mission in Cambodia. The estimated cost was in the neighborhood of $200 million. The program, calling for large numbers of American technicians and advisers, was precisely what the Nixon Administration seeks to avoid...