A Lack of Support for Civilians

In late August, when President Obama announced the end of the U.S. military operation in Iraq, he said now was the time for "dedicated civilians -- diplomats, aid workers, and advisors" to step in and help with the process of stabilizing the country and its government.

There's just one problem, Michael Gerson points out in the Washington Post today:

Congress has responded to this strategy by cutting funds for civilian efforts in Iraq in ways that may undermine hard-won achievements and endanger American lives. Resources were reduced in the 2010 supplemental spending bill and slashed by the Senate Appropriations Committee in the 2011 budget. This week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- in a rare instance of one Cabinet secretary fighting for another department's funding -- responded: "The Congress took a huge whack at the budget the State Department submitted for this process of transition. And it is one of these cases where, having invested an enormous amount of money [in the war], we are now arguing about a tiny amount of money, in terms of bringing this to a successful conclusion."

And it's not just Iraq, Gerson notes. Despite widespread recognition that civilian efforts are critical to encouraging good government and strengthening strategic partnerships across the globe, what tends to be dismissed as "foreign aid" -- a tiny part of the federal budget -- proves a tempting target for budget-cutters year in and year out. The defense budget, meanwhile, remains virtually untouchable.