The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

J U N E 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 S P E A K I N G O U T Gingrich told the Council on Foreign Relations that “we do not want the uni- formed military doing what others should be doing.” Improving Civ-Mil Cooperation The second option, splitting the missions, represents the reality on the ground. But to improve the balance and efficacy of the FS-military part- nership, it is necessary to increase the number of adequately trained FS staff and improve the flexibility and responsiveness of State and USAID. And, no matter what other long- term efforts may be made to strength- en the Foreign Service’s role, it makes sense to keep working on fostering greater interagency understanding. This is essential to maximize the effectiveness of U.S. assistance and security efforts overseas. NATO/ISAF’s “Operation Medu- sa” last fall in the southern province of Kandahar is an example of what can be done. USAID was asked to under- take immediate and short-term pro- grams in areas affected by the fight- ing. Within a few weeks we had reprogrammed nearly $25 million for programs ranging from reconstruct- ing economic infrastructure to offer- ing assistance in rebuilding the lives of civilian victims caught in the cross- fire. This work helped earn the praise of Gen. David Richards, the ISAF commander, who said in a January interview with The Guardian : “I have a huge admiration for what the U.S. is doing in Afghanistan ... pouring bil- lions of dollars into the country, grip- ping issues other countries should and often putting the rest of the inter- national community to shame in the process.” There have been unsuccessful ini- tiatives, as well. The Afghan Ministry of Education has developed an innov- ative program to build, equip and staff “model schools” that are intended to