Radhi

Money can't buy you love

Palestinian workers are hard at work, paving the main Ramallah-Birzeit road ... Hot asphalt pouring on the road, fumes spreading their intoxicating effect, in preparation for a smooth, world-class highway. It's all courtesy of US taxpayer dollars. Through the aid agency USAID, the Obama administration is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on projects in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

This year, USAID plans to spend $153m on infrastructure projects in the West Bank alone. That includes the construction of up 180 kilometres of roads. It's a considerable jump from the $65m the agency spent on similar projects in 2009.