A Sad State of Current Affairs

Recently US aid to Yemen, specifically, it's projected increase in the coming year, has been in the news. [Pause to put my tail between my legs.] I found that the first thought in my head upon hearing "Yemen" was the episode of Friends in which Chandler lied about having to travel there for work. How have I missed a country to which the US contributed $70M in aid in 2009? I could distract from the issue by saying that, relatively speaking, this is a small amount in the course of our government's aid budget. But the real issue is my complete and utter avoidance of all things foreign policy. I have such a low tolerance political bullshit (not limited to just that of our own government) that it's easier just to remain ignorant. But it's much more difficult to be apathetic about these types of things when you think about them enough to write about them. And thus began my education on Yemen - a mere 41 countries from the least developed nation in the world despite its proximity to the major oil producers on the planet. My research was very preliminary but a couple of things seem to be clear: US funding is a result of perceived terrorism risk (ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden among other rationale), Obama's funding seems more focused on development while past aid has been military, and finally that there are systemic problems within the government and the country's ability to sustain itself that causes me worry over whether this is truly the best use of our resources. Or perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me do a little more research...