Wednesday
Apr162008
Pentagon Wants to Fund Foreign Militaries!!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 12:30PM
By Sara A. Carter / Washington Times
Pentagon officials are seeking authority, now held by the State Department, to oversee funding for foreign militaries.
The State Department agrees with the change, but some lawmakers are concerned.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday asked members of the House Armed Services Committee to approve the change.
"For a long time, programs like the State Department's foreign military financing were of minimal interest to the U.S. armed forces," Mr. Gates told the committee. "That our military would one day need to build large amounts of partner capacity to fulfill its mission is something that was not anticipated. ... The attacks of 9/11 and the operations that have followed around the globe reinforced to military planners that the security of America's partners is essential to America's own security."
Three years ago, Congress authorized a Defense Department pilot program, known as Section 1206, to train and equip foreign militaries for counter-terrorism or stability operations, along with another three-year program that allowed the State Department to redirect Pentagon funds for governance, training and equipping, and other stabilization programs.
Section 1206 "provides commanders a means to fill long-standing gaps in the effort to help other nations build and sustain" military forces, allowing the State and Defense departments to respond in months rather than years, Mr. Gates said.
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Pentagon officials are seeking authority, now held by the State Department, to oversee funding for foreign militaries. The State Department agrees with the change, but some lawmakers are concerned.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday asked members of the House Armed Services Committee to approve the change.
"For a long time, programs like the State Department's foreign military financing were of minimal interest to the U.S. armed forces," Mr. Gates told the committee. "That our military would one day need to build large amounts of partner capacity to fulfill its mission is something that was not anticipated. ... The attacks of 9/11 and the operations that have followed around the globe reinforced to military planners that the security of America's partners is essential to America's own security."
Three years ago, Congress authorized a Defense Department pilot program, known as Section 1206, to train and equip foreign militaries for counter-terrorism or stability operations, along with another three-year program that allowed the State Department to redirect Pentagon funds for governance, training and equipping, and other stabilization programs.
Section 1206 "provides commanders a means to fill long-standing gaps in the effort to help other nations build and sustain" military forces, allowing the State and Defense departments to respond in months rather than years, Mr. Gates said.
Click to read more...
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