WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has proposed an overhaul of the way the Pentagon and State Department do nation-building, seeking to end friction between bureaucracies by putting them jointly in charge of three new funds aimed at stabilizing strife-ridden countries.
The proposal is aimed at addressing problems that have dogged the U.S. effort in Iraq and Afghanistan - particularly disputes over whether civilians or the better-funded military should be in charge of stabilization.
But Gates’ proposal goes beyond those conflicts to address what the military increasingly sees as the greatest threat to the United States - failingstates such as Yemen and Somalia that could provide a haven for terrorist groups.
The proposal would concentrate existing and new money in three long-term funds totaling as much as $2 billion. They would be dedicated to training security forces, preventing conflicts and stabilizing violence-torn societies around the world. The funds would exist separately from the war budgets and allow for quicker and better-coordinated responses to conflicts, officials said.
In a memorandum to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gates noted that the increase in Pentagon funding for stabilization efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan has prompted complaints about the militarization of U.S. foreign policy.
The proposal “sets forth anew approach that could transcend these debates. It argues for a new model of shared responsibility and pooled resources for cross-cutting security challenges,” Gates wrote in the unclassified Dec. 15 memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post.
Information for this article was contributed by Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/26/2009