Tanks, Jets or Scholarships?

I was just reading this article today which really made me think what we are doing in the Middle East is helping and hurting.  As pointed out by Thomas Friedman, who recently was in Amman, Jordan, we spent 100 times more supplying the Egyptian military with tanks and planes than was donated to the Lebanese for scholarships and probably did more good with the $13 million that's being used to put Lebanese students through college.

In his article, Thomas shares interviews of several people benefiting from these college scholarships and gets some somewhat obvious responses but put into context you have to wonder why we are toppling governments with one hand and undermining the very social structures which are necessary for stability in this region and at the same time educating their children and doing so much on the other hand.

Curiously it's not unlike tactics we've been using for so many years hedging our bets but the rush to force change through military might and at the same time trickling in money to change their society from within has a strange sound to it.  Perhaps I don't have the correct perspective to really understand what we're doing in the Middle East but I would wager that I'm not alone in this respect.  Obviously, Thomas felt it was worth mentioning because he took the time to travel to Jordan and wrote this fantastic article.  Maybe you could read this article too and let me know what you think.

Please read on at The New York Times, The Opinion Pages, "Tanks, Jets or Scholarships?"

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