"Democracy Promotion"

February 1, 2007

"Democracy Promotion"

For those keeping track of the millions in funding for "pro-western" journalists and political activists flowing from the US State Department, CIDA, and others, this article is worth reading. It seems that in the case of Iran, US funding has resulted in fewer freedoms, because the regime of the day feels threatened by the use of media for US foreign policy ends.

Many observers and activists say the crackdown on intellectuals and government critics has worsened since the U.S. State Department declared last February that it was creating a 75-million-dollar fund to "reach out to the people of Iran". According to the funding request, this would include "(expanding) our outreach to young Iranians with five million dollars for Iranian student education and international visitors programmes designed to build bridges between the people of our two nations". The Netherlands has created a similar fund.

The result serves to justify US and Canadian foreign policy, to be sure. But the effect on the people of Iran seems to be mostly negative.