Foreign aid keeps us safe
Proposed Pentagon cuts get all the attention, but slashing international development work would be just as dangerous
Now that the so-called supercommittee has failed in its task to find $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade, if Congress does not manage to reach a deal before 2013, across-the-board cuts will be implemented. These cuts would hit the military particularly hard. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says that any additional budget cuts (on top of the several hundred million dollars' worth that were previously scheduled to take place) would "hollow out the military" and leave our country less secure.
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who wants to make our country less secure. However, many members of Congress would like to see cuts made to our international development budget, which would unquestionably harm the United States' overall security. As an Iraq War veteran — and a civil affairs operator specifically — I have seen for myself how international development keeps all of us safe.
The United States military is equipped to do many things well. But the members of our armed forces can't do it all. They can engage our enemies with laser-like precision; they can take out targets from thousands of miles away; they can drop bombs and fire missiles so accurately, they can virtually eliminate civilian casualties.
The military leadership on the ground does a fantastic job matching up military occupational specialties to the needs of the local population. But can a Marine show a local farmer how to grow sustainable crops? Can an airman explain to a village elder what good governance is? Can a tanker captain negotiate a dispute between two tribes? Can any of them do these things with the nuance and cultural sensitivity needed in delicate situations? Well trained as they may be, very few service members can do this.
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Jeff Danovich served as a Veterans Organizer for the Truman Project.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Truman National Security Project or Educational Institute.
