In a move that comes about 60 years to late, USAID, which is the U.S. Government's program for administering foriegn aid, as going to ask for data on key personnel of the groups it sends money to. As reported in the Washington Post:
Foreign Aid Groups Face Terror Screens
...The far broader proposed vetting program would involve U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies and could result in the denial of applications for funding. But AID is also seeking to withhold any of its findings from disclosure because the decision would be based on "classified and sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information," according to a second Federal Register notice seeking exemption for the program from the Privacy Act.
"USAID cannot confirm or deny whether an individual 'passed' or 'failed' screening," the notice says, to protect "counterterrorism and counterintelligence missions as well as the personal safety of those involved in counterterrorism investigations."
According to the federal notice, the new system has its roots in a 2003 congressional amendment, attached to the foreign operations appropriations bill, that required the secretary of state to "take all appropriate steps" to ensure that U.S. funds involved in the West Bank and Gaza Strip program do not reach any person or group that is known or "there is reason to believe advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in or has engaged in terrorist activities."
A 2005 Government Accounting Office study of the West Bank and Gaza assistance program found inconsistencies in its implementation, particularly with AID's scrutiny of sub-awardees and consulting agreements. AID's office there responded by collecting more complete biographical data and verifying information provided by awardees.
AID officials told the GAO that six organizations that had been cleared to receive U.S. assistance were later found to have possible links to terrorists, including Hamas. One group never received any funds, three of the projects had already been finished, one contract was canceled, and the remaining one was cleared to continue after further investigation.
While this is a welcome development, it comes way too late. As I recall, the GAO investigation was prompted in 2004 by an UNRWA official saying something like "so what if some of the aid goes to Hamas." Also, one does not need any sophisticated due dilligence or intelligence to determine if aid is making its way to terrorists. The case of Al Quds University, written about by Joel Mowbray among others, is a case of evidence being completely open to anyone with a dial-up internet connection.
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