Strings Attached: USAID and the Dark Side of Foreign Charity

• President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have harshly condemned USAID, calling it corrupt and accusing it of political interference, regime change efforts, and funding extremist groups.
• USAID allegedly funded organizations linked to terrorism, such as a Pakistani foundation accused of channeling money to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
• Claims suggest USAID influences global politics by supporting leftist movements, funding NGOs, and shaping media narratives, especially in India, through journalist training programs.
• The agency is accused of being a front for intelligence operations, similar to the CIA, with past incidents involving Cuba, Russia, Vietnam, and India, including alleged espionage activities.
• Critics argue that foreign aid, particularly from USAID, has harmed national development by fostering corruption, stalling growth, and promoting external influence over sovereign nations.

“USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” – Elon Musk, Director, Department of Government Efficiency[1]

“USAID has been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out.” – US President Donald Trump[2]

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have perfectly summed up the workings of one of the most diabolic entities in America. Toppling sovereign countries, funding bioweapon research, buying foreign journalists, and tarnishing the reputation of elected leaders via propaganda campaigns, USAID is symbolic of the rot that has infested the global aid industry.

In 2019, the Washington DC-based aid agency allocated $110,000 in funding to a Muslim foundation, which then funneled the money to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba—the organization responsible for the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including several Americans. Even more shockingly, USAID continued to fund the Pakistani foundation despite being aware that the money was being used to support terrorist activities.[3]

For decades, USAID has been funneling vast sums of money to Maoist groups that advocate violence as a means to dismantle and overthrow existing socio-economic and political systems. This ideology has significantly influenced movements in India and Nepal, where foreign support has helped Maoist uprisings gain momentum. In Nepal, the rise of the Maoist revolution in the 1990s can be linked to USAID-funded NGOs, which backed the movement under the pretext of development programs.[4]

USAID’s machinations have also been evident in its efforts to orchestrate regime changes under the guise of revolution and democracy, including in Bangladesh, where it backed a coup led by the military and jihadist factions against a democratically elected government. It also cultivated close ties with radical leftist billionaire George Soros, who committed $1 billion to “fight nationalists“[5], including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he called an “electoral autocrat.” USAID was so bent on bringing India down that it even gave Soros $260 million.[6] The message was clear – if your enemy is India, UDAID is ever-ready with pockets full.

As the lynchpin of leftist propaganda, USAID has provided funding to Internews, an organization that runs media training programs aimed at shaping the media landscape. To date, over 75,000 Indian media personnel are reported to have been trained through these programs, raising concerns about the potential ideological influence on the country’s media.[7]

By lifting the lid off the scandal, Musk and Trump have revealed that journalism-for-hire is very real. By offering fellowships and funding opportunities, USAID can buy individuals who produce content that aligns with its geopolitical objectives. Several self-proclaimed independent journalists in India are currently under scrutiny for their ties to the US Deep State. Aathira Perincheri, Aathira Perincheri, Aradhna Wal, Wahid Bhat, Shaba Manzoor, Shibi Arasu, Makepeace Sitlhou, and Tarashu Aswani are a handful of the thousands of recipients who write biased and anti-national reports for various news outlets and anarchist groups.[8]

Crux of the Problem: How the Parasites Entered

For the first six decades following independence, India had virtually abdicated its responsibility to provide basic economic necessities to hundreds of millions of its citizens. Against this backdrop of callous neglect, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) swooped in to take up the space left vacant by the State. In places where bureaucrats or politicians did not care to trudge, such organizations provided vital services – schooling, sanitation, housing…and hope.

However, not all NGOs come in with good intentions. Some live off the fat of the land – as platforms for their founders to skim charity money. Others are more devious. Days after Narendra Modi rode to power in 2014, the Intelligence Bureau – India’s premier internal security agency – submitted a report to the Prime Minister’s Office, identifying several foreign-funded NGOs “negatively impacting economic development.”[9]

The 21-page IB report revealed that “a significant number of Indian NGOs, funded by some donors based in the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavian countries, were using people-centric issues to create an environment which lends itself to stalling development projects.”

The report added: “Foreign donors lead local NGOs to provide field reports which are used to build a record against India and serve as tools for the strategic foreign policy interests of Western governments.” It contended that NGOs slow economic growth by 2-3 percent. The total national loss could be as much as $150 billion annually—twice Russia’s defense budget.

Dangerous Fifth Column

The most significant danger of foreign-funded aid agencies is they bring in foreign filth – spies, Christian missionaries, and agent provocateurs, who create numerous difficulties for the country.

One of the most outrageous instances of foreign meddling in India is the former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s high-octane crusade against Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. Her use of Indian NGOs as fronts is a classic example of how the West can play the divide-and-rule game over and over in India.

Madhav Nalapat, Professor of Geopolitics at Manipal University, quoted a US official in the Sunday Guardian: “Hillary Clinton likes to operate through NGOs, which are given funding through indirect channels, and which target individuals and countries seen as less than respectful to her views on foreign and domestic policy in the target countries.”[10]

The official claimed that “rather than US NGOs, Clinton favored operating through organizations based in the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Scandinavian countries, especially Norway,” as these were outside the radar of big power politics.

Like the CIA’s fake polio campaign in Pakistan – that successfully ferreted out Osama bin Laden – the Americans have launched similar campaigns in India as well. Several current and retired American officials told Nalapat that “during the tenure in office of Secretary Clinton, several expert teams in the guise of NGOs were sent to Gujarat to try and find mass graves.” The purpose was to then take the matter to the Office of the UN Commissioner of Human Rights in Geneva as an example of genocide.

Failing to discover any ‘mass graves’ in Gujarat, Clinton directed the search teams to Punjab. After the American F-16 and F-18 jet fighters were rejected in the Indian Air Force’s multi-billion dollar acquisition campaign, “orders were given to activate the Khalistan file.”

Clinton and her team were trying to put the heat on the Indian government in attempting to unearth mass graves in Punjab. Indian middlemen in the guise of aid agencies again provided vital logistics. According to American officials, “Key politicians in Punjab have assisted these search teams and on occasion even provided logistical facilities for them.”

The Spy Game

Since deep state organizations like USAID have often been linked with the world’s second oldest profession, it is inexplicable how India didn’t take a proactive approach to ban it. In contrast, the Russians were far wiser. Vladimir Putin booted out USAID more than a decade ago, accusing it of meddling in Russia’s internal affairs.[11] Earlier, Moscow had ordered the meddlesome British Council to ship out. The British were given just hours to leave Moscow or face arrest.[12]

Were the Russians being paranoid? You be the judge. According to the Associated Press, USAID – which was ostensibly established to channel humanitarian aid – created a fake Twitter program to undermine the Cuban government. The US planned to use the platform to spread political content that might trigger a Cuban Spring and bring out “street mobs.” In essence, the American plan was to destabilize Cuba and turn it into another Iraq or Libya.[13]

During the Vietnam War, USAID provided cover for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives so widely that the two became almost synonymous. US multinational companies – banks, oil companies, airlines, construction firms – are generally happy to help the CIA, on patriotic grounds, with legitimate-looking jobs for its operatives.[14] [15]

Author Frances Stonor Saunders has done an excellent expose of how the CIA has roped in aid agencies not only as fronts but as willing participants in the spy game. In her book ‘Who Paid the Piper? CIA and the Cultural Cold War’ she writes that the Ford Foundation – which continues to be active in India – and the Rockefeller Foundation were “conscious instruments of covert US policy, with directors and officers who were closely connected to, or even members of American intelligence.”[16]

Saunders adds: “At times, it seemed as if the Ford Foundation was simply an extension of government in the area of international cultural propaganda. The foundation had a record of close involvement in covert actions in Europe, working closely with Marshall Plan and CIA officials on specific projects.”

They Need Your Country

While it is desirable to have friendly ties with the West, friendship must come with checks and balances. In his book, ‘The Armies Of God’, British-born Malaysia-based academic Iain Buchanan explains that ties with the West come with the danger of Christian infiltration because Western governments employ powerful evangelical outfits as proxies.

According to Buchanan, “The secular departments of Western governments, whether they be departments of state or corporate businesses, find such evangelicals to be very effective partners.”[17]

The consequences are dire for the targeted country because the West doesn’t stop at mere conversion. “Active Christian proselytization is often just a small part of the process,” says Buchanan. In addition, there must be infiltration of every sector of influence in a society, from religious groups to government departments to local charities to private businesses.”

Canada-based think tank Global Research agrees: “NGOs are fast becoming the missionaries of empire.”[18]

Why Target India?

As Western power declines in sync with the rising stock of China, Russia, and India, the West is desperate to extend its 200-year domination of the planet. Because Moscow and Beijing are ever alert to their shenanigans, Western countries can do precious little damage to those countries. India, on the other hand, with its chaotic democracy, is a much softer target. There are numerous political parties and sundry Indian media outlets that are willing to be bought by the highest bidder – whether they be American, Chinese, or European.

The West also looks at India through Judeo-Christian glasses. Western elites may be atheistic or agnostic, but their worldview is colored by their past. British colonialists have imprinted the image of Hindu India as a hellhole in the minds of Westerners.

China is already set to become the world’s preeminent power, and in tandem with Russia, another civilizational rival of the West, it sits at the global high table. Seeing a former colony, India, which the West has collectively mocked for two centuries, seated at the table as an equal makes them apoplectic. As such, virtually all Western countries are united in their dismay at the rise of India.

Further, if India remains semi-industrialised, it would be a vast market for Western consumer goods, capital industries, and armaments.

Foreign Aid; Disaster For India

A paper prepared by Professor Shyam J. Kamath of California State University for the CATO Institute notes that between 1951 and 1991, India received more foreign aid than any other developing nation, estimated at $55 billion. Yet, Indian economic development was abysmal during that period.[19]]

For instance, the effect of World Bank lending on the town of Madurai in southern India illustrates how foreign aid ruined India. Madurai had an excellent network of private buses, providing efficient and punctual services. It was taken over by the state government with a World Bank loan. The result—the nationalized transport corporation started running at a loss and provided extremely poor service. Not only did the public suffer, but the nationalized transport corporation became notorious for its rampant corruption and inefficiency.

Since the majority of foreign aid was in public-sector manufacturing enterprises, it played a key role in diminishing the private sector’s role in the Indian economy and increasing the government’s hold over the private lives of Indian citizens. Given that the return on that public-sector investment was low or negative, foreign aid from those countries contributed directly to the impoverishment of the Indian masses.

 Against this backdrop, Professor Kamath comments: “Foreign aid to India has been an unmitigated disaster. It has acted both as a catalyst and an encouragement for the politicization of the Indian economy. It has also encouraged corruption, rent-seeking, and graft. Foreign aid has been – and continues to be – predicated on an outdated and false development economics theory that assumes that only capital and access to technology are needed for economic development.”

Think about it. Foreign aid agencies worked for over a hundred years yet barely made a dent in poverty in Africa. It was the arrival of Chinese, Indian, and Russian companies that saw a dramatic change in the continent’s landscape, with better roads, brand-new towns, and real jobs.

On the other hand, once poor countries such as Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and China quickly became prosperous thanks to hard work, private enterprise, and local investment in roads and industry. This gentrification is also happening in India—albeit at a slower pace—and only needs good governance to hasten the process. However, India’s approach must follow a fundamental principle: progress should never come at the cost of national security.

Besides, there are millions of desperately poor and hungry people in the West. More than 50 million people in the US relied on food assistance from charities in 2023. As Americans, our primary focus should be on ensuring they are fed first rather than concerning ourselves with the Indians.[20]

Citations

[1] Musk calls USAID a ‘criminal organization’ that should ‘die’ (The Hill); https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/musk-calls-usaid-a-criminal-organization-that-should-die/ar-AA1yimHC?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[2] Elon Musk Says USAID ‘Criminal’, Trump Calls Its Leaders ‘Radical Lunatics’ (NDTV World); https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elon-musk-says-usaid-criminal-trump-calls-its-leaders-radical-lunatics-7621931

[3] The Postmortem of USAID and What it Means for India (Swarajya); https://swarajyamag.com/world/the-postmortem-of-usaid-and-what-it-means-for-india

[4] The Double Life of Development: Empowerment, USAID and the Maoist Uprising in Nepal (Dinesh Paudel; September 2016 Development and Change 47(5):1025-1050); https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307626655_The_Double_Life_of_Development_Empowerment_USAID_and_the_Maoist_Uprising_in_Nepal

[5] Remarks delivered at the World Economic Forum (George Soros); https://www.georgesoros.com/2020/01/23/remarks-delivered-at-the-world-economic-forum-3/

[6] George Soros used USAID grants to destabilise India, Bangladesh and other nations, report claims (Financial Express); https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/trump-claims-george-soros-used-usaid-grants-to-destabilise-india-bangladesh-and-other-nations/3744424/

[7] How USAID ‘trained’ 75000 Indian media persons to destroy Bharat (Hindupost); https://hindupost.in/world/how-usaid-trained-75000-indian-media-persons-to-destroy-bharat/?feed_id=27559&_unique_id=67adfff6571a1#

[8] Unmasking the Indian journalists who played into hands of USAID to propagate anti-Bharat Agenda (Organiser); https://organiser.org/2025/02/12/277763/bharat/unmasking-the-indian-journalists-who-played-into-hands-of-usaid-to-propagate-anti-bharat-agenda/

[9] Foreign-aided NGOs are actively stalling development, IB tells PMO in a report (Indian Express); http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/foreign-aided-ngos-are-actively-stalling-development-ib-tells-pmo-in-a-report/

[10] Statewide and National runup to 2014 General elections (Bharat Rakshak); https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic.php?t=6494&start=17360

[11] Russia boots out USAID (CNN World); http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/19/world/europe/russia-usaid-expulsion/

[12] Russia demands British Council closes offices (Telegraph);  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572371/Russia-demands-British-Council-closes-offices.html

[13] US secretly created ‘Cuban Twitter’ to stir unrest and undermine government (The Guardian); https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/03/us-cuban-twitter-zunzuneo-stir-unrest

[14] How USAID worked alongside CIA in Vietnam – a whistleblower’s account (Times of India); https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-plus/international/how-usaid-worked-alongside-cia-in-vietnam-a-whistleblowers-account/articleshow/118164225.cms

[15] The Heart and Mind of USAID’s Mission in Vietnam; https://afsa.org/sites/default/files/vietnamArchivedContentFromFSJ008.pdf

[16] https://www.geocities.ws/simpang_kiri/G30S/fordfoundation.html

[17] The Iain Buchanan Interview – Yogesh Pawar (Bharta Bharati); https://bharatabharati.in/2020/07/09/the-iain-buchanan-interview-yogesh-pawar/

[18] DoubleVictimisation? Law, Decoloniality and Research Ethics in Post-colonial Africa (Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.10, no.2, April 2017); https://jpanafrican.org/docs/vol10no2/10.2-6-Warikandwa.pdf

[19] Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 170: Foreign Aid and India: Financing the Leviathan State  (Cato Institute); https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa170.pdf

[20] Hunger in America (Feeding America); https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america