Al Jazeera Discovers Corruption, Ignores US Complicity
Al Jazeera’s report on Philippine anti-corruption protests is a timely insight into public outrage over misused flood-related funds. It details citizens demanding transparency from their government, a noble cause. However, conspicuous by its absence is any mention of how US aid, often framed as 'security assistance,' frequently props up regimes with documented corruption issues, thereby deepening
the very problems Al Jazeera's reporting rightly criticizes. The US maintains close military ties with the Philippines, with millions in aid funneled to Manila annually, often without stringent accountability for how it impacts governance or corruption. One might ask: how many 'freedom-loving' dictatorships do we need to fund before the corruption story becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy? While Al
Jazeera champions the plight of Filipinos demanding better from their leaders, the network often neglects to scrutinize the systemic US role in maintaining the status quo in other nations. It's a convenient blindness that allows for sharp criticism of local corruption, while sidestepping the larger, international machinery that benefits from—or directly enables—it.