NPR: ‘Immediate Needs’ In Syria After ISIS: USAID Chief Visits Devastated Raqqa
“…USAID has a small team on the ground in northern Syria, working with local partners to restore basic services, provide emergency food and medicine, and clear improvised explosive devices and landmines that ISIS left behind. The Syrian government has not given permission for the U.S. work to take place. … USAID has received little attention in President Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy. [USAID Administrator Mark] Green, a former Republican member of Congress from Wisconsin, former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, and longtime aid advocate, is navigating an administration that has vowed to cut back overseas spending by about a third. Some highlights from Green’s conversation with reporters about his agency’s aims and challenges…” (Kelemen, 1/23).