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Operations Bill; More Analysis to Come The Senate FY2012 State, Foreign Operations bill and committee report are now available online on the GPO website: the bill (S. 1601), the report (Report 112-85). Note that an amendment from Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) that was passed as part of the Managers Package moved $2.5 million from International Organizations and Programs to Global Health and Child Survival for programs for The Office of Displaced Children and Orphans Fund. Our table reflects that shift, as do the documents linked above. Note also that our table includes all Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding in the amounts listed. See the comments in Excel in the relevant cells in the spreadsheet. Some quick highlights: USAID Operating Expenses: 38 percent ($371 million) over House bill, about flat from FY2011 and FY2010 Global Health: 11 percent ($786 million) over House bill, close to flat from FY2011 and FY2010 Development Assistance: 23 percent ($482 million) over House, flat from FY2010 and FY2011 Intl Disaster Assistance: 32 percent ($242 million) over House, 16 percent ($137 million) over FY2011 (less than FY2010, but that was a spike because of Haiti) Migration and Refugee Assistance: 20 percent ($303 million) over House, 7 percent ($113 million) over FY2011 MCC: same as House, flat from FY2011, 19 percent ($207 million) under FY2010 Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance: zeroed out as inefficient Intl Orgs and Programs: (note: InterAction does not track the subaccounts compared to previous years, only the main accounts) o Center for Human Settlements (UN Habitat): $1.9 million o International Conservation Programs: $7.9 million o International Panel on Climate Change/UN Framework on Climate Change: $11 million o OAS Fund for Strengthening Democracy: $4 million o UN Childrens Fund: $129.5 million o UN Democracy Fund: $4.755 million o UN Development Program: $80 million o UN Environment Program: $7.7 million o UN. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: $3 million o UN Women (UNIFEM): $7.5 million o UN Population Fund: $40 million We will provide further analysis in the coming days.
HEARING SUMMARIES U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq Senate Armed Service Committee September 22, 2011 Witnesses: Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense Admiral Michael G. Mullen, U.S. Navy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Opening Statements: Chair Carl Levin (D-MI) We have seized the initiative in key areas, including Taliban strongholds in the south. Taliban reduced to suicide attacks and roadside bombings. Afghan security forces should assume responsibility for protecting all Afghans by 2014, as our troop drawdown continues. Evidence linking Haqqani network to the Pakistani government. Repeatedly pressed Secretary of State Clinton to add the Haqqani group to the State Departments list of terrorist organizations. U.S. must remain engaged and must learn lessons from Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) Deep concerns about aggressive drawdown from Afghanistan and complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. At least 10,000 troops need to remain in Iraq to guarantee stability; very concerned to hear unconfirmed reports about the administration proposing as few as 3,000 troops on the ground. Success on the ground in Afghanistan is finally in reach; we should be solidifying, yet the presidents plans will only make the mission more risky. Cutting off aid to Pakistan will only worsen the situation. Strategy here will have larger impact upon our national security than anywhere else in the world. Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense Defense budget$450 billion in savings need to be made over the next 10 years. No specific decisions made yet. Must maintain the most dominant military in the world. Involves hard decisions, and inevitably taking on greater risk. Must avoid hollowing out the force at all costs. Efficiencies, overhead duplications, procurement, greater competition in contracting, compensation. Decade of warDepartment of Defense (DoD) budget has more than doubled. We now need to prevent wars, but fight and win them if we have to. Caution strongly against further cuts to DoDwe do not have to make the choice between fiscal security and national security. Iraqfocus on ending the war in a responsible way. Allow Iraq to become a secure, sovereign, self-reliant nation. 2
Fewer than 50,000 troops remain there; were planning to draw down all combat troops in Iraq by the end of the year. Iraqi leadership interested in ongoing training relationship with the U.S. Afghanistanattempt to establish conditions in which Afghanistan can secure entirety of policing operations by 2014. Afghan national security forces increasingly capable. We have made significant progress with regard to our primary mission of disrupting and ultimately defeating al-Qaeda. The greater reliance on headline-grabbing attacks from al-Qaeda denotes a shift of momentum in our favor. Eastern Afghanistan topography gives insurgents advantages they have lost elsewherewe cannot allow them a safe haven, and must also pressure the Pakistanis to confront the issue.
Admiral Michael G. Mullen, U.S. Navy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Afghanistansecurity situation is steadily improving, and we are meeting our military and strategic objectives. Recent acts of violence from al-Qaeda aim to play on the fears of a traumatized people, and do not represent a sea change in the odds of military success. Poor governance and corruption is the major challenge undermining our efforts delegitimizes institutions to whom we will delegate authority. Credible evidence that Haqqani network was behind the bomb at the InterContinental Hotel in Kabul, and that Palestinian intelligence authority played a supporting role in the recent attack on the U.S. embassy. A flawed and difficult relationship with Pakistan is better than no relationship at all. Disagrees that Pakistan has drifted away further than before. Questioning: Chair Carl Levin (D-MI) 1. What options are available to stop these terrorist attacks if the Pakistanis will not act to prevent them? Panetta Put as much pressure on Pakistan as possible to deal with the issue on their sidehave sent a clear message in recent meetings with officials. Unhelpful to describe what they would look like operationally. 2. What is your assessment of the NATO mission to build Afghan forces capable of assuming a role in the 2014 timetable set? Mullen Significant improvements have been madeintensive literacy training has been put in place. Between 25,000-30,000 military police are undergoing training. 3. General Raymond Odierno publicly cautioned against creating the impression that there is still a significant troop presence in Iraq after our timetabled withdrawal date. Do you agree? Mullen We need to be very careful. Negotiations currently afoot to establish exactly what assistance the Afghans will require.
Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) 1. The reason for the significant delay in the outcome of these negotiations is that the Iraqis are waiting for our assessment of the situation. This cannot be based solely on the Iraqi needs, because we need to establish what our national security needs are. Should we stay in northern Iraq? Mullen Very contentious region. Security posture in that area has to be such that it does not spark a sudden eruption of violence. Exact composition of that presence will be the product of these negotiations. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) 1. There is a notion circulating that we will have no presence in Afghanistan after the 2014 handover. Is this correct? Mullen The model we support is not unlike that which we are currently negotiating with Iraq. Clear message needs to be sent to Pakistan that we will not disappear; if we abandon the region, we will be forced to return as the situation would deteriorate drastically. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) 1. With regard to the DoD budget cuts, how exactly will you avoid a hollowing of forces? Panetta The key is not to take the easy way out of blanket cuts across the board, i.e. cutting everything by a certain percentage. Instead, must look at key areas and make tough decisions on saving. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) 1. Unbridled presidential discretion with regard to the use of military power was used in responding to Libya, partly due to the vague definition of conflict that allows the executive to go over the heads of Congress. Does this trend concern you? What should the future model be for defining existential threats, and the application of military support? Mullen The fight against terrorism is not just in one country but is a truly transnational threat; complicates the practice of application of military engagement. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) 1. You previously articulated the estimate of a $450 billion cut to the DoD budget over the next 10 years, but I had heard potential cuts suggested of up to $850 billion. Is that an acceptable reduction in spending? Mullen Absolutely notnot just the amount, but also how it is executed.
Full committee hearing on the nominations of Robert Mandell to be ambassador to Luxembourg; Thomas Charles Krajeski to be ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Dan Mozena to be ambassador to the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Witnesses: Robert A. Mandell, to be ambassador to Luxembourg Thomas Charles Krajeski, to be ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Dan W. Mozena, to be ambassador to the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh Michael A. Hammer, to be assistant secretary of state for public affairs
Opening Statements: Robert Mandell Luxembourg was a founding member of North America Trade Organization, United Nations, European Union: o Would continue the strong, productive the relationship U.S. has with Luxembourg. o The U.S. gained Luxembourgs goodwill by liberating it after World War II. o Should increase American exports to Europe. Financial services make up 25 percent Luxembourgs gross domestic product (GDP): o Luxembourg signed an agreement to stop financing terrorism/moneylaundering. o Clarity of banking strategy will be first priority as ambassador. o Other priorities will be peace, security, prosperity, medical diagnostics and healthcare, and encouraging new technologies. Thomas Krajeski The U.S. and Bahrain have a long history of cooperation and partnership: o If confirmed, will work with Bahrain to respond to external threats to security. Deeply concerned about increased confrontation during protests in February and March of this year: o Serious human rights abuses; o Encourage and support reform and not condone repression in Bahrain; o King Hamad fostered a month-long national dialogue; o The Independent Commission of Inquiry, led by internationally recognized legal experts, was also investigating reports of civil and human rights violations. Dan Mozena Plan to visit all 64 districts in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has demonstrated a moderate, secular, democratic alternative to violent extremism: o Improved relations with India; o Worlds largest contributor to international peacekeeping; o Promotes democracy and human rights, skilled in disaster preparedness, and stabilizes U.S. interest; o Economic growth has reduced poverty; o Actively combats terrorism. Weaknesses: o Democratic institutions are weak; o Political parties are polarized; o Unclear intentions toward civil society; o Threatened by rising sea levels caused by climate change. 5
Bangladesh can be a beneficiary of Obamas three initiatives: o Feed the Future; o Global Health Initiative; o Global Climate Change.
Michael Hamner Approach: echo Senator Clintons vision: How to use smart power to do better? Was previously principal deputy assistant secretary in the Public Affairs Bureau. Use social media as tool to reach more people. U.S. should not leave it to others to shape policy: o Rapid response, constant engagement; o Reach out to diaspora communities to promote who we are and universal beliefs: freedom of speech, press. Public Affairs Bureau launched nine foreign language Twitter feeds. State Department Live!new interactive online video briefing platform: o Has allowed hundreds of foreign journalists to speak with policymakers. Questioning: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) (presided over hearing) 1. Bahrain shares U.S. security interests, how does the U.S. respond to it being strongly criticized? Krajeski o King Hamads first effort was to open the government into a constitutional monarchy. This made the events of this year even more shocking. o U.S. will continue to criticize, encourage efforts to recover, and watch government response to the release of reports on the crisis. 2. Talk about the strength of relationship between U.S. military presence and how Bahrains people feel about U.S. Navys Fifth Fleet in their country. Krajeski o Both governments recognize the importance of this relationship as mutually valuable. The base has been there since 1947longest standing relationship. 3. Mentioned that financial services were a large part of Luxembourgs GDPwhat struggles has the country faced as the result of the Eurozone crisis? Mandell o 25 percent of GDP: half of workers are in financial services sector. o Eurozone issues has dampened market. o Health technologies, satellite systems, Cargolux sectors have increased. o $3 billion order in Cargolux. 4. In terms of combating the finance of terror, how close are Luxembourg and U.S. to an agreement? Mandell o Bank secrecy laws issue resolved by OECD to make sure laws are transparent. o Protocol allows U.S. trade department to look at banks. 5. Controversy of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus removed from position at Grameen Bankwas this a political move?
Mozena o The focus is now to ensure bank philosophy in promoting welfare of women of Bangladesh continues to play leadership role. o Yunus was older than mandatory retirement age, which is why he resigned. 6. War crimes aimed at Bangladeshs split from Pakistan, 3 million killed, 10 million displaced, not many arrested. Are the trials politicized? Mozena o U.S. supports accountability in transparency. o Bangladesh has reached out for assistance. o Ambassador-at-large Steven Rapp provided long list of suggestions consistent with international standards. 7. Bangladesh is a prime candidate for one of Obamas forward-thinking policies: talk about the climate change opportunity. Mozena o Working with Bangladeshi people to create rice that grows in increasingly saline water. o Create embankments to elevate fields. o Clean and efficient cook-stoves reduce fuel consumption.. 8. How effectively has the State Department increased new media tools? Hamner o Has increased to nine foreign language Twitter feeds to use social media to connect to more diverse audiences. o State Live! allows officials to be interviewed by foreign press. 9. Recent article in the New York Times discussed an interchange with the Taliban on law on a blog. Is the State Department working with the military on these matters? Hamner o Yes: the State Department works on these issues in the interagency process. o Secretary Clinton, in a speech at the John Jay College Center on Terrorism, encouraged Defense Department to work with State. 10. How can the United States continue to engage youth in the role they played in the Arab Spring? Hamner o The State Department is very focused on youth. o Secretary Clinton has appointed a Youth Ambassador. o Social media is critical. o Town halls with youthful audiences abroad. o State Live! often has younger, less experienced journalists. 11. How will the United States work with countries diasporas? Hamner o Haitian diaspora communicates what the U.S. is doing. o Foster tighter bonds with Tunisian diaspora in New York this week.
Promoting Peace? Reexamining U.S. Aid to the Palestinian Authority, Part II House Foreign Affairs Committee September 14, 2011 Witnesses:
Elliott Abrams, Council on Foreign Relations 7
James Phillips, The Heritage Foundation Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Foundation for Defense of Democracies David Makovsky, The Washington Institute
Elliott Abrams
Across-the-board cuts would be negative; some of these aid programs are in our interest. Must distinguish between Palestinian Authority (PA), led by Fayyad, and the PLO, who are going to the UN. Entire PA should not be blamed, and indeed the collapse of the PA would be negative for both U.S. and Israeli interests. 8
Presidential waiver, started in 1987 and continued by every president since, has allowed the PLO to have an office in Washington, D.C. First step must be to halt this practice immediately.
James Phillips
Palestinian rapprochement with Hamas. May 2011 power-sharing agreements; casts doubt on Palestines genuine commitment to negotiations with Israel. Hamas implacably committed to destruction of Israel. Obama administration has bent over backwards to avoid criticizing Palestinians. Obama has failed to halt Palestinian drive for statehood at the UN. U.S. aid is not an entitlement. Should be closely tied to Palestinian efforts for peace. U.S. should declare it will withhold funds to UN agencies engaging with this Palestinian state, similar to policy of George H. W. Bush.
David Makovsky
Cutting aid to the PA completely will lead to its collapse, and would be a poor decision. Total suspension of assistance would only be warranted if the PA took steps towards a Third Intifada. Withholding U.S. aid will undermine those we want to help, and help those we want to undermine. Hamas would gain substantially from reduction in U.S. assistance. There has been real favorable change in recent years thanks to our aid. In 2002, 410 Israelis were killed by suicide bombings from the West Bank. From 2007-2010, Israel suffered only one fatality due to such attacks.
Abrams Education is a prime example of where we have not adequately conditioned our aid; weve talked a lot about textbooks, without setting any conditions on the content of those textbookse.g., whether they incite religious hatred. This provides an opportunity to attach more conditions to our bilateral aid. We should look at turning responsibility of helping Palestinians over to the UN High Commission for Refugees.
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Has Mrida Evolved? Part One: The Evolution of Drug Cartels and the Threat to Mexicos Governance House Committee on Foreign AffairsSubcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Tuesday, September 13, 2011 Witnesses:
Dr. Gary M. Shiffman, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University Dr. Andrew Selee, Mexico Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars Dr. Robert J. Bunker, Small Wars Journal El Centro Dr. Pamela Starr, U.S.-Mexico Network & the School of International Relations, University of Southern California
Opening Statements: Chair Connie Mack (R-FL), Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Intend to assess the evolution of illegal activity in Mexico and to determine if taxpayer programs have evolved accordingly. Since 2006, Mexican drug cartels have evolved into resilient transnational criminal organizations, expanding operations in human trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, weapons smuggling and stealing resources. o Their activities are aimed at undermining the Mexican government, protecting illegal activity, and winning the support of the people or, failing that, instilling fear in the population. U.S. has important security role in this fight as a result of proximity to and commerce with Mexico. It must work jointly with Mexico. The U.S. needs to design a new productive way forward, and the Mrida Initiative (implemented Oct. 27, 2007) is not the answer: o Has seen chronic delays and implementation challenges. o Lacks target dates, tangible goals and strategic guidance. o Does not seriously address the national security challenges we face, and does not correctly identify the problem as an insurgency. The U.S. must support a targeted, counterinsurgency strategy, measures of which must include: o An all-U.S. agency plan to attack and dismantle criminal networks. o Doubling the number of border patrol agents and increasing funding for border protection equipment. o Teaching culture of lawfulness to ensure local population support of the government and rule of law over the cartels.
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Mrida is moving away from focus on expensive equipment to focus on institution-building through training and technical assistance. o This switch in emphasis is critical for a number of reasons, prominently that technical expertise is less costly, more flexible and can be provided more quickly.
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Most are reluctant to call the situation an insurgency, but that is what is going ona fight for political controlin large parts of Mexico.
Selee: o We tend to think that there are these six or seven organizations that run drugs to the U.S., that theyre giant organizations, that they have a lot of people working for them, etc., but these are much smaller groups, much more compact. The groups that do kidnapping, extortion may not even belong to the cartel. Actually a loose, somewhat nebulous network of people.
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Selee: o Yes, intelligence is often wrongly used, even in the administration. o Though far from failsafe, the evidence is that there has been an increase in channels that are trustworthy.
Selee: o Priorities should be figuring out how the money gets into the U.S. system, and then cracking down on bank policies that make it easy to secure away laundered money.
ARTICLES AND REPORTS White House news blog Sept. 20: Launch of FWD campaign USAID administrator Rajiv Shah launched the Food, War, Drought campaign, in partnership with the Ad Council, on Sept. 20. The program was created to inform the general public about the issues, particularly in the Horn of Africa. It focuses on engagement and encourages people to pass information onto their families and friends. Xinhua Sept. 20: China offers Pakistan $4.7million in emergency aid In the aftermath of severe flooding in southern Pakistan, the Chinese government provided emergency humanitarian aid worth $4.7 million. In addition, 7,000 waterproof tents will be shipped to Pakistan to help with relief efforts. Washington Post Sept. 20: Key Afghan leader killed in Kabul bombing Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was appointed last year to head a commission trying to broker a peace deal with the Taliban, was killed inside his Kabul home in a suicide bombing. Rabbani is the latest in a series of Afghan leaders who have been killed this year. New York Times Sept. 22: Michael Mullen accuses Pakistan of supporting U.S. Embassy attack Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael G. Mullen, in a testimony given in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, claimed that Pakistans intelligence agency aided the insurgents who attacked the American Embassy in Kabul last week.
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BBC Sept. 22: Oxfam warns about effects of 'land rush' Oxfam has released a report warning that an increasing number of land deals are displacing farmers and leaving poor communities homeless. Vulnerable communities in Uganda and South Sudan have been affected, while the report also focuses on Honduras, Guatemala and Indonesia.
Disclaimer: Articles linked in the Update are intended to provide a dashboard view of newsworthy and topical issues from popular news outlets that will be of interest to readers of the Update. The articles are an information-sharing vehicle rather than an advocacy tool. They are in no way representative of the views of InterAction or the U.S. NGO community as a whole.
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