War and aid

Last fall, as U.S. troops launched a war on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, a battle of an entirely different sort was being waged in the White House and across several federal agencies. This campaign didn't get as much attention, but it was no less important, because it involved winning new allies in the war on terrorism with economic support, providing humanitarian relief to millions of refugees and trying to convince the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world to support the fight against terrorism.

After the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, federal officials rewrote the book on how the United States should use economic, humanitarian and development aid to advance its interests.