After the State Department welcomed six Pakistani legislators to the United States to show them how America values Pakistan’s security and wellbeing, the six legislators were insulted before departure when they were asked to be scanned twice before boarding their plane. Pakistan, a country whose citizens are required to go through increased security checks before they fly into the U.S., was infuriated as to why the Obama administration would order this if it considered Pakistan an “ally” in the war on terror.

USAID has pledged to spend $750 million on “various projects in the tribal areas” and another $37 million is pledged “by Congress to spend on exchange programs intended to show skeptical Pakistanis that the United States is a real ally, a country that wants to help, not hinder, Pakistan.” Yet, I have to pay out of pocket for college, room & board, food, and books all on my own. I’m also pretty sure that Niccolo Machiavelli warned, “The Prince who contributes to the advancement of another power ruins his own… a Prince ought never to take the side of a neighboring state more powerful than himself, because even if he is victorious he is at the mercy of his neighbor.” And at this rate, Pakistan wields more regional power and respect than the United States does, especially if USAID is resorting to bribing foreigners into believing the U.S. is the land of candy, rainbows, and butterflies.