The Foreign Service Journal, May 2008

Transform Our Budget John Naland’s February President View’s column comparing today’s bud- get situation with that of the 1990s hit my desk at a fitting time. That same day, my colleagues and I learned that, as of April 1, our post could no longer afford to continue our weekly lan- guage lessons (with a few exceptions, such as for those trying to get off lan- guage probation). Just a few days ear- lier, we were also forced to signifi- cantly slash our in-country travel plans for the year in order to meet the new budget constraints. As someone who entered the Foreign Service during Colin Powell’s tenure, after the dark days of the 1990s, I was rather shocked to see budget cuts affecting such critical aspects of our job. All we hear from the department’s leadership is that we need to have more hard-language speakers and get out into more remote parts of the world, all in order to “transform” those societies. Well, that is a tough assignment if you do not speak the language and cannot leave the capital! Of course, I do not blame post management, which is doing its best to manage a bad situation. But I do blame the department’s leadership, which wants the Foreign Service to take an increasingly aggressive world- wide posture, yet cannot secure the funding from our own Congress to get the job done. Getting us the resources we need — now that would be a remarkable transformation! Christian Yarnell Economic Officer Embassy Kyiv Remember Diplomatic History Congratulations on the new For- eign Service Heritage feature and its initial article about Loy Henderson in the February issue. It has long been a source of disappointment to me that so many in the Foreign Service pay little attention to American diplo- matic history and tend to neglect our rich professional heritage. Unless things have changed recently, these subjects are not a significant part of State Department orientation and training programs. They should be. A recent visit to the new Marine Corps Museum at Quantico remind- ed me how important it is for all orga- nizations that aspire to greatness to have a culture that proactively re- members their histories and honors their heroes as sources of wisdom and inspiration for their present mem- bers. The Foreign Service culture needs to better integrate this princi- ple, and the Journal can help it do so. James R. Bullington FSO, retired Williamsburg, Va. Time for the Afghan Army to Step Up On Jan. 14, there appeared an opinion piece in the New York Times titled “Afghans, Report for Duty,” by former U.S. ambassador to Afghani- stan, Ronald Neumann. Amb. Neu- mann suggests instituting a military draft in Afghanistan as a viable solu- tion to the worsening security in the country. He also criticizes the role of the Afghan National Police in dealing with that situation. There are several problems with this proposal. First, who would ad- minister such an ambitious national program? The Afghan government is already managerially challenged, to put it politely, and even advanced societies have trouble running a draft program. Second, who would pay all these new draftees? The U.S.? NATO? Very doubtful. And, third, there is the question of vetting, arm- ing and training all the new recruits. We should instead be encouraging the existing Afghan National Army to take on a more aggressive warfighting role. After more than five years of Defense Department funding (sever- al billion dollars), training and logisti- cal support, this seems a more reason- able approach — and expectation. Amb. Neumann also criticizes the Afghan National Police for its lack of effectiveness and corruption, which he calls “an enormous problem among 6 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 8 L ETTERS