Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, former president George W Bush repeatedly declared "you're either with us or against us" in the ensuing "War on Terror".<br /><br />This led to a major change in US foreign policy. Bush changed how US aid was spent, and focused on using it to recruit allies to his cause.<br />Countries that had previously seen very little US support were now receiving a massive influx of cash in the aftermath of 9/11. <br /><br />Leaders the US had previously refused to talk to because of their human rights abuses were now suddenly friends of the country.<br /><br />One example was Pakistan. Prior to 9/11, it was almost completely blocked from getting US money because of its nuclear programme, as well as the military coup that put Pervez Musharraf into power. <br /><br />In the three years leading up to 9/11, it received about $9m from Washington, yet in the three years following 9/11, it received over $4bn.<br /><br />According to Tom Carothers, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: "There is a central contradiction in the War on Terror.<br /><br />"You can call it a crusade for freedom or its really about democracy, but the reality was that it pushed the US into closer co-operation with security forces intelligence agencies and governments in a number of autocratic places."<br /><br />Yet Bush supporters argue that while much of the money went to prop up regimes, the US also spent money on democracy programmes in those countries.<br /><br />"Most of the regimes in the world are run by bad guys," said Cliff May, president of the Foundation For Defence of Democracies. <br /><br />"Some of those bad guys are more open to American assistance and American influence than others."<br /><br />But even with millions of dollars going to keep their people in power, the people on the streets were able to bring some of them down. <br /><br />Those still there however, are still getting paid for their help.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's correspondent Patty Culhane reports from Washington.
