Much of it is! Journalists are already using it to debunk some of Elon’s claims like the one they only 10% of USAID reached intended targets (which appears to be based on his complete misreading of a breakdown)
The real question now is where is DOGE’s evidence of all of this corruption? There are massive claims of rampant corruption, such as calling the USAID corrupt to their core, but literally zero evidenced has been revealed to anyone. The interviews I’ve caught have been Elon giving definitive statements and refusing to elaborate on anything, as if we’re supposed to trust his private judgment and ask no questions.
This is beyond belief. It's a Whitehouse website with a list of claims of wasted money on the part of USAID. But instead of evidence unearthed by DOGE the first three claims link to a Daily Mail page. The Daily Mail is a junk newspaper in the UK!
“Between 2005 and 2008, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) devoted at least $330 million in funding to failed ADP projects intended to deter farmers and traffickers from cultivating and trafficking opium.”
The article actually said the money was intended to STOP opium production. But the Whitehouse Fact sheet (last bullet point) twisted the facts to say the complete opposite.
I’m not too sure if that quote you used is even an accurate depiction of what happened. The following paragraph:
“the chief at SIGAR, learned that the agricultural development programs — namely those used to rehabilitate canals that have rendered an area more than three times the size of Washington, DC, fertile— have “inadvertently” fueled the cultivation of the poppy crop.”
Was it to deter farmers and poppy production, or was it doing what was intended - developing agriculture - with the unfortunate downside of being used for poppy production.
The truth is of course more nuanced but that doesn't make good sound bites.
Was it to deter farmers and poppy production? The answer lies in the word "deter" in the quote I copied. Deter means slow/stop. The USAID OIG report I quote below also says the same thing. "The purpose of the program is to counteract...".
"was it doing what was intended - developing agriculture"? This is where the reader needs context and Breitbart provided none of that. The Taliban were removed from power in Afghanistan in 2002. It wasn't until 2020, the US withdrew all troops. The period of "corruption" mentioned was in the early 2000s. To address your question, I refer to the IG report https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/5-306-10-0.... If you read the quote below, it was intended to do both. The IG report actually blasted the execution of the plan, and it said it was half-assed. I would argue the whole US adventure in Afghanistan and Iraq was half-assed, ad hoc, and hurt US prestige. Not to mention the deaths and tragedies inflicted on all sides. Trump is right in that Afghanistan is a shameful episode in US history. Was USAID's intention to stop opium production? The answer is yes.
OIG report on page 7, "Summary. The purpose of the program is to counteract illicit poppy cultivation by providing alternative livelihood programs, improved economic opportunities, and diverse regional economic growth in selected provinces. Furthermore, a key pillar of the U.S. Government’s counterinsurgency strategy involves economic development of areas secured by the U.S. military. Although gains have been made in some targeted southern and western provinces to reduce poppy cultivation, these gains may not be sustainable because (1) no follow-on alternative development activity has been approved beyond March 2011; (2) a critical southern province is not included in the current program; (3) access to markets for cereal crops (such as wheat) is not guaranteed, nor is stability of commodity prices; (4) success of programs outside the mission’s control may affect poppy cultivation and harvest; and (5) the availability of water is uncertain. The impact of not having a follow-on program can be measured in terms of (1) loss of program investment in long-term projects totaling $7 million, (2) loss of economic gains for Afghans including jobs, (3) potential increase in poppy cultivation, and (4) a negative effect on the U.S. Government’s counterinsurgency policy."
> $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt [link explains it is to fund economic development in North Sinai]
This sounds like an absolutely expected program for USAID, given that it is a soft power aid agency. Egypt is a regional partner to the US and this province has been a source of Islamist violence. It also borders the Gaza Strip.
> Through this agreement, USAID will build on previous investments in North Sinai including the provision of potable water to 300,000 residents and wastewater services to 100,000 residents. New activities under this amendment will provide access to transportation for rural communities and economic livelihood programming for families.
How is that funding tourism? Also a lot of other links are simply pointing to "news" organisations (in quotation marks, because I'm not sure if I'd call daily mail news), who report on cuts done by DOGE, that's some circular referencing.
Are you being serious. All this stuff has been going on for decades, and the data has been public for years. If you think this is corruption, not an argument I'm trying to have (a lot of it is fwiw,) then wait till you see what these guys have planned haha.
"The woke extravaganza in question was actually something called Dignity, a live-streamed set of performances from the US ambassador’s residence in the Phoenix Park in September 2022 that featured, among others, the American folk musician Rhiannon Giddens, the Italian instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, the singer-songwriter Mick Flannery and the fiddler Martin Hayes.
Having examined the evidence on YouTube, I regret to inform you that there is nothing about white fragility, queer theory or any of the other progressive shibboleths that have attained the same status in this White House that the dictatorship of the proletariat had for the un-American activities committee of the US House of Representatives in the late 1940s.
It is certainly true that the accompanying promotional bumf for the gig (which was sponsored by the well-known radical agitators Coca-Cola and PwC, among others) was full of the sort of platitudes that were so in vogue in the faraway days of the early 2020s.
“The Biden administration is committed to principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access,” we were informed. “With this event we aim to highlight and celebrate the work that the embassy, the Irish Government and our partners are doing to advance DEI throughout Irish society. These ideals have long underpinned the strong relationship between both countries.”
It's based on this outmoded idea called 'diplomacy', where you build positive relations with allies rather than trying to buy them, or threaten to invade them or crash their economies.
If it confidently does not further US interests then Musk and friends can describe it honestly and recommend to Congress and USAID leadership that this sort of funding be made out of scope of USAID's mission.
Yup, ask no questions. That's it. That's their entire game plan. That no one will dare question their intellect. What's the point after seeing what happened with the USAID spending and news subscriptions? As the kids say, "we're cooked."
USAID helped terror organizations[1]. So this information is public and US is now a sponsor of terrorism? I don't think so or atleast not publicly. So their assertion stands its corrupt to their core.
The real question now is where is DOGE’s evidence of all of this corruption? There are massive claims of rampant corruption, such as calling the USAID corrupt to their core, but literally zero evidenced has been revealed to anyone. The interviews I’ve caught have been Elon giving definitive statements and refusing to elaborate on anything, as if we’re supposed to trust his private judgment and ask no questions.