Not Just a Job, an Adventure: Drafting the U.S. Civil Service for Counterinsurgencies
Not Just a Job, an Adventure:
Drafting the U.S. Civil Service for Counterinsurgencies
by Michael A. Clauser
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It’s become trite to state that the solution for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is “political,” and not solely “military,” in nature. Both Presidents Bush and Obama made the case that the purpose of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan was to provide a security space allowing for national and local governance to take hold and grow. But while President Bush found five brigades to surge into Iraq and President Obama committed 30,000 additional forces to Afghanistan, neither President could find adequate numbers of —foreign and civil servants to accompany our men and women in uniform. U.S. non-military civilian numbers in both countries remain low. One senior official estimated that U.S. civilian personnel in Afghanistan total around 1,000 strong, just one percent of the military footprint in that country. Even now, most of these are found in the crowded embassy in the capital. If the U.S. is serious about winning the war in Afghanistan through a political solution, Congress should change current law and begin to draft civil servants with the right skill sets and training for national objectives abroad.
Download The Full Article: Not Just a Job, an Adventure: Drafting the U.S. Civil Service for Counterinsurgencies
Michael A. Clauser served as the National Security Legislative Assistant to a senior Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He previously served in the Bush Administration in the Pentagon. The views expressed in this commentary are his own and do not reflect that of the United States Government.
