Amid the buzz over DOGE chief Elon Musk’s words about USAID being “a criminal organization,” the world’s top whistleblowing website has dug up direct evidence to confirm as much.
While USAID promotes itself as an agency promoting “democratic values abroad” and advancing “a free, peaceful, and prosperous world,” a leaked US Army manual touts it as one means of applying “economic power” to “persuade adversaries, allies and surrogates to modify their behavior.”
USAID’s “placement abroad and its mission to engage human groups provide one channel for leveraging economic incentives” in support of US unconventional warfare efforts, the 2008 Special Forces Unconventional Warfare document states.
“Direct application of USAID grants to specific human groups can alter negative behaviors or cement positive affirmations,” it adds.
The Spec Ops doc also touts USAID’s “Conflict Assessment Framework” as an effective tool for informing “programmatic, operational- and tactical-level design and planning” for military use.
Elon Musk put USAID on the chopping block amid reports that Department of Government Efficiency agents were physically blocked from accessing USAID’s secure systems as part of DOGE’s accounting of federal programs and spending.
Speaking to press on Sunday, President Donald Trump said USAID “has been run by a bunch of radical lunatics,” and promised to “make a decision” on the agency’s future after “getting them out.”
On Monday, Musk said Trump had “agreed we should shut [USAID] down.”
By Ilya Tsukanov
Published by Sputnik Globe
Republished by The 21st Century
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of 21cir.com