STATE DEPARTMENT KILLS CONGRESSIONAL INSTRUCTIONS, FIGURES OUT WAY TO FUND HAMAS

Because honestly, why wouldn't they?

A report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy documents that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided funds to institutions controlled by Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in defiance of guidelines issued by President Bush and Congress. The institute revealed that USAID has failed to screen applicants for U.S. funding to ensure that they were not linked to Hamas and other groups on the State Department terrorist list... In March 2006, USAID eliminated a requirement to periodically reevaluate aid recipients after initial clearance,... USAID's new policy ensured that the State Department would remain "unaware" of Hamas and other insurgency takeovers of Palestinian charities. Under pressure from Congress, USAID has demanded that aid applicants provide details of principal officers and other employees.

Back on our home blog, we posted this story with a video of the Palestinians dancing in the streets and handing out candy on 9/11.

Luckily, the mid-level career civil servants at the State Department are sophisticated enough to understand all the benefits of funding people who openly declare themselves to be mortal enemies of the US and its allies.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]