THE BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER : 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗞'𝗦 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗

While the concept of fighting government waste and inefficiency is something most of us readily agree with, D.O.G.E., the fake government agency initiated by President Trump and led by Elon Musk, Trump's biggest donor, is being used by Musk for his own personal benefit, not our country's.

A logical starting place for D.O.G.E. to cut government waste, inefficiency and corruption would have been the Department of Defense, an entity that has FAILED six annual audits in a row with a whopping $3.8T in assets and $4T in liabilities and a presence in all 50 states.

But, instead, Musk went after USAID, a department accounting for less than 1/2 of 1% of the annual budget that creates goodwill all over the world by combatting hunger, disease and poverty, saving lives all over the world, while creating critical relationships for future trade and cooperation. Boxes of food with the U.S. flag stamp on the top creates more goodwill for the U.S. than all the words flowing from the mouths of politicians.

But, why did Musk use D.O.G.E. to go after the U.S. Agency for International Development?

There are two reasons, actually, and, in both situations, Elon Musk has a clear conflict of interest in going after USAID.

What initially got under Musk's skin about USAID was an investigation initiated by USAID into Musk's activity with Starlink in Eastern Europe. Despite Musk's assurance that only Ukraine was using the communication services of Starlink, many Russian operatives were using Starlink satellite communications technologies to control parts of Ukraine, particularly Russia's 83rd Separate Air Assault Brigade operating in the eastern Donetsk region at the time.

Evidence of Russian Army using Starlink to Communicate on the Battlefield During the Ukraine War

A statement by SpaceX claims that any Starlink terminal it finds being used by a "sanctioned or unauthorized party" is deactivated, while the Kremlin claims Starlink is not "a certified system with us" and "cannot be used officially in any way."

Yet, at least three Kremlin telegraph accounts have been discovered with fighters claiming that Russian fighters on the front lines had lost their access to Starlink, implying they indeed had been enjoying access. Another channel said "not all" Starlink terminals had been impacted.

So, this investigation by USAID into the sharing of communication equipment with the Russian army via Starlink was Musk's intial beef with USAID, not any of the lies he and Trump have propagated about USAID's so-called waste of federal monies.

Musk's other issue with USAID is global, primarily with Trump's intentions to do business with China including auto plants and other businesses.

China is the main beneficiary of Musk's shutdown of USAID as China has been trying to create worldwide goodwill by duplicating the work of USAID, spending BILLIONS helping create highways, bridges that link up Africa, setting up highspeed rail to connect Korea, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

With USAID out of the way, China is unencumbered in establishing trade and cooperation with the continent of Africa and the rest of Southeast Asia.

As for Musk, he's facing several roadblocks to fully implementing his business plan for China. With Musk stifling, stymieing and squelching USAID, China may just be willing to overlook some of those obstacles.