UK: Diverting funds

British PM: Use Foreign Aid for Military

Under Fire in Budget Crunch, Cameron Seeks to Divert Aid to Wars

Anti-War,

20 February, 2013

Cynical effort to score political points or just the ultimate expression of interventionist fervor? Either way, British Prime Minister David Cameron, having just gotten done pushing for a hike to his nation’s foreign aid budget, is now looking to loot that budget to spend on military adventures.

The effort seems primarily aimed at placating members of Cameron’s own Conservative Party, who are disquieted by the prospect of cuts to military spending in the ongoing budget crunch.

Cameron unveiled the plan in comments to reports during his visit to India, saying that the Department for International Development, which receives the billions of pounds in annual funding, is “working closely” with the defense ministry on was to make such a move happen.

The prime minister argued that foreign interventions to prove a “basic level of stability and security” was part and parcel to the whole concept of “foreign aid,” following that up with the claim that using the foreign aid budget for “peacekeeping” missions was justified.