Food aid fuels war.(National Security)(Brief Article)

Matthew LeRiche, "Unintended Alliance: The Co-option of Humanitarian Aid in Conflicts," Parameters, Spring 2004 (carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters)

Over the past several decades, well meaning non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have provided massive amounts of aid in war zones. According to Matthew LeRiche, a British postgraduate student, many have seriously underestimated the role such aid plays in war fighting. "The cunning co-option of the massively valuable resources of the humanitarian aid system is how many militaries and paramilitaries have continued to support their soldiers and campaigns despite the loss of military assistance" he writes. "The determination of aid organizations to remain neutral, however noble, enables local commanders to continue to pillage aid resources intended for those who suffer."

Although LeRiche identifies many different ways that food aid can play a role in a conflict, several techniques stand out. At the tactical level, small units (particularly in the low-tech, Third World wars where NGOs play the greatest role) call seize food aid for their own use, thus retaining combat effectiveness. They can also ...