It's no secret that the US government funds oppositions (be they "in country" or in exile) to regimes that it disfavors and wishes to destabilize or overthrow. To take just one example, "President Bush has not yet decided what to do about Iraq, according to the senior Administration official. Until he has, he said, the State Department will continue to give financial support to opposition groups, including the I.N.C. [= the Iraqi National Congress]" (Seymour M. Hersh, "The Iraq Hawks," _New Yorker_ [December 24 & 31, 2001], p. 63). The Iraq Liberation Act alone allocated "ninety-seven million dollars for training and military equipment for the Iraqi opposition," of which "less than a million dollars" went to the I.N.C. (Hersh, p. 59). Sometimes, US governmental funding of oppositions takes the form of supporting unarmed social movements like Otpor (see, for instance, Roger Cohen, "Who Really Brought Down Milosevic?" _New York Times Magazine_ 26 November 2000 -- excerpts of the article are available at <http://csf.colorado.edu/pen-l/2000IV/msg02405.html>). Yet another route through which US government funding can give support -- this time, more ideological support than anything else -- to oppositions is indirect, through international activities of US-based organizations (e.g., media, labor unions, etc.).
Likewise, it's no secret either that Western foundations, financial institutions, etc. support many non-Western NGOs. With regard to imperialism and NGOs in Latin America, James Petras wrote an article for _Monthly Review_: "Imperialism and NGOs in Latin America," _Monthly Review_ 49.7 (December 1997), at <http://www.monthlyreview.org/1297petr.htm>. I'd be interested in reading analyses similar to Petras's -- but with more empirical facts -- with regard to Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
As for a particular question of various factions of Afghan women's groups, my contention is not that the US government has funded them. I have no idea who has and would be interested in knowing their funding sources.
Take Dr. Sima Samar, for instance, who is now Afghanistan's new Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister of Women's Affairs: "
A report from "An Evening With Dr. Sima Samar," a recent AWID public meeting, describes Dr. Samar's activities: "In her talk, Dr. Samar detailed the many initiatives she has undertaken to defend women's rights both in Afghanistan itself and the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. Currently, she runs four hospitals and ten medical clinics in Afghanistan. She also runs a hospital in the refugee camp of Quetta, Pakistan and several schools for young women in both areas. These schools together educate more than 21 000 people. In addition, her activities in Quetta also include computer training for women as well as a co-ed college which trains women and men as medical assistants and paramedics. Finally, she runs various income generating projects for women in Quetta." Now, all these projects require steady funding sources. Where did the money come from? One or more of the UN agencies? Western foundations? Western governments? Non-Western foundations? Non-Western governments? All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above? -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>