Foreign Aid will be a hot button topic...even aid delivered by the military.

via Fox News.

The United States is providing hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid to countries that it borrows billions from, according to a report by Congress's research arm.

The Congressional Research Services released a report last month, a copy of which Fox News exclusively obtained, showing that in fiscal year 2010, the latest year that data was available, the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4 billion to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10 billion in Treasury securities, including China ($27.2 million), Brazil ($25 million), Russia ($71.5 million), India ($126.6 million), Mexico ($316.7 million) and Egypt ($255.7 million).

I'm cynical.  I think that this is a story designed to protect all foreign aid by attempting to highlight the aid that we're giving to countries that don't need it.

This will be a hot button subject for this political season.  Cuts are coming...to defense, entitlements etc...but foreign aid has to be part of that mix too.

And in my mind that includes the aid given to nations through the dubious Partnership Exercises.

UPDATE:

Wow.  I took down this post initially because I knew that the liberal readers of my blog just wouldn't be able to take it.  Having read this story from DefenseNews, I can see that I was spot on.

Here's a tidbit...

In the final continuing resolution for 2011, the department's Economic Support Fund (ESF) lost close to $2 billion from its budget request. The fund provides money to countries around the world to help them overcome short- and long-term political, economic and security problems.
"That is a huge cut when you're talking about the relatively small ESF account, and it has impacts on countries around the world and it's forcing us to make very hard choices about where to invest our dollars and where to cut," Sullivan said.
The cuts also come as the State Department is trying to increase its operational capability so that it can better partner with the military services in the field, he said.
To stave off further reductions, the State Department is making its case to Congress that it needs every possible dollar requested.
"We have to show them that we are finding ways to increase efficiency and deliver more effectively," Sullivan said.
But the case needs to be made beyond Capitol Hill, he said. Recent polls show that Americans support cuts to foreign aid, but they also dramatically overestimate its portion of the federal budget.