Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Outright bribery
The United States is suspending military aid to about 35 countries in a dispute over an international war crimes tribunal.
Overall, about $48 million in aid will be blocked, according to State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. Among the nations affected is Colombia, where some U.S. assistance for fighting drugs and terrorists could be in jeopardy.
The aid cutoff is because the countries failed to meet a Tuesday deadline for exempting Americans from prosecution before the new U.N. international war crimes tribunal.
In addition to Colombia, the following countries were declared ineligible to receive U.S. military assistance, according to a State Department announcement Tuesday night:
Africa: Benin, Central African Republic, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Niger, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia.
Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia.
Western Hemisphere: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela
Asia: Fiji, Samoa
Because if the US doesn't get its way, it takes it's toys and goes home.
posted by chris at 11:07 PM
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