As the OMB documents notes. " * * the reduction in aid would mainly affect the poorer countries of Africa and the Asian subcontinent." How can we explain this action to ourselves or to others? What message do we convey to the world by a rejection of altruism as an element of our foreign policy? What would be the impact on Africa for example. where twothirds of the worlds poorest people live and which contained a refugee population of 5 million at the end of 1980? How does a withdrawal from the community of aid donors of the degree proposed by OMD square with the American tradition of responsible humanitarianism? Can we believe that an abdication of our role as providers of assistance now will serve our longterm interests?