Defending Foreign Aid

The Washington Post today published a leadership roundtable focusing on the need for foreign aid.  Among the contributors is Senator John Kerry. Here is a brief excerpt. I highly recommend reading the full roundtable.

All of our foreign aid programs and foreign policy initiatives— from
sending diplomats to Afghanistan to helping reverse the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in Africa—barely make up 1 percent of the annual budget. It is a
relatively small investment for such a great return. This year alone we
will spend approximately $700 billion on our military. The entire
international affairs budget is less than one-tenth of that. As former
Secretary Gates once pointed out, if you took the entire Foreign Service
roster, you could barely staff one aircraft carrier. 

– Senator John F. Kerry