The following article could be entered into a variety of threads here based on the intense pro-and-con discussions regarding the merits of developmental aid within the context of stability operations:

Much US aid over the last decade was spent in the middle of war, the ultimate breakdown of the rule of law. Half of the increase in aid in the seven years following Bush's announcement went to Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Another fifth went to other violent, corrupt or autocratic places where "nation-building" also had little chance of succeeding, such as Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.


The "failed states" mandate put USAid on an untenable defensive. It tried to keep the failures secret, which only called more attention to the inevitable leaks. Human Rights Watch documented that the Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi manipulated American aid to starve supporters of the democratic opposition. A 64-mile stretch of road from Gardez to Khost in Afghanistan was shoddily constructed and is still incomplete after three years of construction. As of May 2011, the project was expected to cost $176m, two and a half times the initial budget. As with most wartime aid, much money went to security – including to a local warlord linked to the insurgents – which did not prevent 108 roadside bombs that killed 19 workers. Another 2010 report found aid flying out of Kabul in suitcases. A 2009 audit of a USAid project in Iraq found that some of the money got diverted to anti-American insurgents.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-dev...d-from-defence