Too much direct aid may not be practically useful. How much can be spent before it turns into spending for spending's sake, or gets siphoned off by corruption?
I don't know. It's an important question and a recurring problem for development projects. Which is why I'd like to offer up another suggestion, both as a way of mitigating some of the firehose effect and as a productive gesture in its own right.
Now would also be an excellent time for a new volunteer program. What if every Marine who leaves Iraq were replaced by a Peace Corps volunteer?