Foreign Aid After Sept. 11

As U.S.-led forces continue to wage the Bush administration's war on terrorism in Afghanistan, calls are mounting for the United States to attack terrorism on another front: by boosting foreign aid. A coalition of international humanitarian agencies wants America and other industrial nations to double their aid levels as a way to alleviate the poverty, disease and illiteracy they say fan the flames of terrorism. They focus their call on the United States, which spends less on aid, as a percentage of national income, than any industrial nation. But critics say foreign aid has done little to improve living standards in the developing world, often lines the pockets of corrupt government officials and doesn't address the true causes of anti-U.S. sentiment.