If you don't remember Charlie Wilson, he's the former Congressman (D) from Texas who played a large part in funding the mujahideen, in large part through covert and misnamed earmarks in the 1980s. A book and a movie portray (to varying degrees of success) "Charlie Wilson's War."
In the article, Wilson points out that:
" ... as we commit troops to the "war on terror," America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development continue to be chronically undermanned and underfunded. We spend 1 percent of the federal budget on these critical elements of our foreign policy, compared with 22 percent on the military and weapons."
Wow. When people suggest a "Marshall Plan" for this region or that, they out themselves as politicians who have a poor grasp of the issues who simply don't understand the complex differences between "then" and "now." However, a new approach to the way that aid is used and distributed should be a top priority of our next commander-in-chief. In such a short post I could never do justice to the topic, but I can say that I'd put Thomas Friedman in charge.
In the article, Wilson points out that:
" ... as we commit troops to the "war on terror," America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development continue to be chronically undermanned and underfunded. We spend 1 percent of the federal budget on these critical elements of our foreign policy, compared with 22 percent on the military and weapons."
Wow. When people suggest a "Marshall Plan" for this region or that, they out themselves as politicians who have a poor grasp of the issues who simply don't understand the complex differences between "then" and "now." However, a new approach to the way that aid is used and distributed should be a top priority of our next commander-in-chief. In such a short post I could never do justice to the topic, but I can say that I'd put Thomas Friedman in charge.
