USAID: Is this Team Obama's Foreign Aid 'Slush Fund' for Favored Policies?

A U.S. agency whose mission is to foster democracy by providing financial aid to foreign governments is under fire for what some lawmakers charge is blatant political bribery to get foreign officials to pass policies favored by the Obama administration. 

The payment programs, administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), are described as "incentive" funds. The U.S. government offers multimillion-dollar payments to foreign governments -- including in Afghanistan, as well as North Africa and elsewhere -- in exchange for approving policies that are a priority in Washington, but not necessarily in those countries.

The money effectively greases the palms of foreign government officials, but watchdogs and lawmakers are questioning how that money is being spent. "It sounds like a bonus, 

it sounds like a slush fund, it sounds like a lot of very negative things," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said during a recent House hearing on Capitol Hill.

Last year, the U.S. government gave $15 million to Afghanistan in exchange for its parliament passing a law on violence against women. The United States Agency for International Development has defended that payment, arguing before a House Oversight subcommittee that the vital law would have been "unpalatable" for Afghanistan without the monetary incentive.

But that was just a chunk of a larger, two-year $175 million "incentive fund" through USAID to nudge Afghanistan toward "progress" on human rights, budget and election reforms. Another $15 million was given last month for budget changes. 

The programs are run through USAID, a federal agency established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy that manages how much money is given to other countries to advance the political and economic interests of the United States. So far, the U.S. has committed $100 billion to reconstructing war-torn Afghanistan, with a good chunk of the cash coming from USAID. The money has funded hospitals, power plants and other initiatives.

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