Pictures of Afghanistan, beyond picturesque poppy fields, have been uniformly unpleasant. USAID, which funnels all the money into the Obama Administration’s various projects noticed this too, with most pictures of USAID work in Afghanistan meaning pictures of crumbling, half-built structures accompanying stories of millions wasted on them.
USAID had a plan though, and it was to hire photographers to take some more upbeat photos to “help inform Afghans” about how great their projects really are. It didn’t last long.
USAID first requested proposals on Monday, and was immediately pressed by NGOs about why it was using its budget, which it is constantly complaining is too small, on “glossy propaganda” photos. By Thursday, USAID decided that instead of answering that question, it’d be easier to just scrap the contract entirely.
USAID is constantly under fire from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction for wasting money, and failing to account for where the money goes when they hand over block grants to Afghan government agencies. Today’s scandal will no doubt add more questions about that.
USAID is not an "aid" organization as understood by most people, it's a tool of the US government whose whole reason for existing is to project US "soft power". The sooner the US government gets rid of it and other fake NGOs such as the NED, DNI and IRI all together the better. The money would be far better spent on immediate relief after disasters which usually does far more for the US' reputation than all the fake NGOs put together even if it is done by the US military. Perhaps if the United States wants to be the world's policemen, it should also become the world's paramedic!.