Reflections on the NED

One of the first sermons the Buddha gave his son was to point out that our actions act like a mirror: they reflect our true self. He goes on to teach him the importance of awareness in evaluating our actions. This idea, of course, is quite old. It's the old adage: he talked the talk and walked the walk. And so it is vitally important that we discuss and evaluate the actions our body politic takes on a daily basis. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a great example of contradiction between what we say and what we actually do.

In his 2004 State of the Union Speech, Bush proposed doubling funding for NED and called for a greater focus on "its new work on the development of free elections, and free markets, free press, and free labor unions in the Middle East. And above all, we will finish the historic work of democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, so those nations can light the way for others, and help transform a troubled part of the world." [20] (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html) (Click here.)

What better way to have free elections than to outspend the opposition party! That really is American democracy. But it's more sinister than that.

NED has principally supported candidates with strong ties to the military and who support the rights of U.S. corporations to invest in those countries with minimal restriction. The NED has not supported candidates who oppose investments by U.S. corporations or who promise restrictions on investment rights of U.S. corporations.

Once you understand this, then it becomes clear why Batista is favored over Castro or why Somoza is favored over the Sandinistas, the Shah is favored over Mossadegh, Pinochet over Allende. It's not whether or not they are butchers. It doesn't matter if they violate human rights. It doesn't matter if freedom and liberty are mocked in the streets. It's whether or not that regime will allow investors in London and Washington to rape it, rob it of its natural resources, and exploit the cheap labor for as long as possible, destroying the environment in the process.

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