WASHINGTON: Some voices, spurred on by a war on terrorism, are singing a new tune. Some aid advocates, as well as some conservatives, and even military officials, want to see the Bush administration at least double international assistance to help meet what they say are some of the root causes of terrorism - poverty, poor health, a lack of educational and development opportunities.

“What we spend on foreign assistance is an integral part of our national security strategy,” Republican Jim Kolbe of Arizona declared recently at a House appropriations subcommittee hearing. The proposed international affairs budget for fiscal 2003 is $16.1 billion, of which $3.8 billion is earmarked for areas that development experts ts consider crucial, including basic education, health care, disaster relief, and democracy promotion.

President Bush spoke of the need to do more about global poverty and limited educational opportunities. But while his proposed budget would increase ”international assistance” spending by about $750 million, critics note that well over half of the increase is for military assistance.

“We agree with the (president’s) words of support, but they’re not reflected in the fine print of the budget,” says Mary McClymont, president of InterAction, a coalition of 160 US-based international-aid organizations. Like other critics, she says expanding foreign aid would serve the national interest by “enhancing our own state security.”

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Centre for International Development at Harvard University, says that by raising foreign aid by just one-tenth of one per cent of GNP - a move that would yield about $10 billion - the US would “start having an adequate strategy for fighting terrorism at its roots.”

In a December report for a WHO commission, Sachs concludes: “new global partnership between developed and developing countries” to invest in public health could not only save lives, but “strengthen global security.” Assistance groups are mindful of aid’s poor reputation, so they are calling for a doubling of aid over the next five years, coupled with stronger efforts to make programmes more effective and efficient.

McClymont says it is also time to point out not just failings, but how effective international assistance has been. According to InterAction, programmes have helped cut in half adult illiteracy in developing countries over the last three decades. Early-warning systems helped avert famines in Ethiopia, Central America, and Afghanistan.—Dawn/LATS Service (c) Christian Science Monitor.