All we ever do is squander aid budget millions
Anyone who read Ian Birrell’s feature last week on the squandering of aid in Afghanistan will be absolutely appalled at the incompetence of it all.
We have been throwing taxpayers’ money into endemic corruption and fraud, and the only way to stop it is to ban all overseas payments by the British Government.
John Ashworth, Helensburgh
We could have had first-class health, education and housing services with all the money various governments and agencies have wasted over the years.
M. Martin, Twickenham
Aid cash is thrown away in every country – it never ends up where it’s supposed to help. Instead it mostly ends up in the pockets of greedy people.
Mary Dawson, Surrey
When will politicians wake up to the reality that we are not in a position to impose our values on other nations? History demonstrates over and over again that when we interfere, it ultimately backfires.
T. Davidson, West Sussex
It’s eye-opening to contemplate the simple conclusion that if we had simply handed out bundles of cash on street corners to any Afghan who asked for it, the billions of aid money from the
West would have been far more effectively distributed among those who actually needed it.
J. Wight, Plymouth
It might have cost billions or trillions, but even planting the seed of democracy is priceless.
All it takes is for one person to rise up and then people will gain the confidence to join them.
Alice Evans, London
This just proves once again that there is no such thing as a poor country, just poor people.
S. Thomas, Leeds
Russia got it right in the 1980s with Afghanistan: call it quits, go home and leave them to it.
The West is so full of the
‘saviour’ mentality, it will selfdestruct with candlelit vigils, thoughts and prayers, and wellintentioned interventions.
W. Christie, Barbados
Whoever rules Afghanistan, it’s always the long-suffering
Afghan people who lose out.
And the long-suffering Western taxpayers, of course.
Emma Knight, Cardiff
Every year we read about how millions of our aid budget is wasted, yet no one is ever held to account. Foreign aid, in its current form, must be scrapped and everyone involved in the signing off of this wasted money needs to be investigated and removed from post immediately.
K. Lewis, Nottingham
Could there be a better argument for limiting aid only to helping deal with unforeseen natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods? We should not continue to throw away taxpayers’ money which could be better used at home.
Gillian Thompson, Dorset