Alexander Smith, a contractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said he was given a choice between resignation and dismissal after preparing a presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians, which was cancelled at the last minute by USAID leadership last week.
Smith, a senior adviser on gender, maternal health, child health, and nutrition chose to resign on Monday after four years at USAID. In his resignation letter to the head of the agency, Samantha Power, he complained about the inconsistencies in USAID’s approach to different countries and humanitarian crises, and the general treatment of Palestinians.
“I cannot do my job in an environment in which specific people cannot be acknowledged as fully human, or where gender and human rights principles apply to some, but not to others, depending on their race,” he wrote.
What a relief to know that when we bombed the shit out of Hiroshima and Nagasaki we weren’t involved in major operations. There were only a small number of troops involved, so I guess they were more skirmishes. I’ll sleep better knowing that.
Sigh… I just have to put my head down and avoid most news or my mental health suffers from feeling so helpless and outraged.