The Problem From Hell

Imagine making a career by giving yourself the most absurdly low bar brand in history - "I dislike genocide" - and presiding over one.

Inside USAID, career civil servants with extensive experience were horrified by the lack of urgency from their politically appointed leaders.

Internal USAID documents seen by The Independent showed that staff were passing their concerns about the lack of action up the chain to USAID administrator Samantha Power and other senior leaders in the form of letters and internal dissent memos, often to no avail.

“What was surprising to me, and deeply disappointing, was the fact that we were hearing nothing about imminent famine in Gaza,” said a USAID staffer, who asked to remain anonymous because they are still employed by the agency.