The Bush Administration has bolstered assistance to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand in hopes of contributing to US foreign policy and security goals especially in the war on terrorism. But in order to further human rights goals, Congress restricts certain security assistance funds from being provided to any units of foreign security forces when credible evidence exists that units have committed gross violations of human rights such as “death squads,” unlawful and brutal interrogation techniques and other suspected violations. The United States allocated about $265.7 million in assistance from fiscal years 2001 to 2004 to equip and train security forces in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. US law restricts the provision of funds to units of foreign security forces when the Department of State also has credible evidence that the unit has committed gross violations of human rights. Full Story