"political issues in these countries are the root of the problem"<p>well, it's political-economical-cultural, you can't really isolate one like that.<p>I'm not advocating Gates giving money to those governments, so they chose what to spend on.  I agree that would be even worst - they would buy guns to strengthen their armies and luxury goods for themselves on their visits to Europe and Dubai.<p>10B can have quite a large impact on political realities in the US.  Electing Obama cost a lot less then that.