By VOA News


General Wants More Flexibility for Foreign Military
Aid 
By Al Pessin 
Pentagon
07 April 2006
  


A senior U.S. military commander urged Congress Friday
to give him, and other officers at his level, more
authority to spend money to provide military
assistance to foreign countries.  He was addressing a
hearing of the Armed Services Committee of the House
of Representatives.

 
General James Jones 
The commander of U.S. forces in Europe and most of
Africa, General James Jones, told the committee he has
plenty of responsibility, being in charge of 92
countries.  But he said he does not always have the
authority he needs to spend money in his budget as he
sees fit, particularly when it comes to providing
military training to some of those countries.

General Jones said such assistance can play a key role
in helping countries develop based on democratic
principles, and that if commanders must wait months or
even years for budget approval, other donors may step
in and influence the developing countries in a
different direction.  "I worry that over time we're
becoming very hard to work with, harder to work with,
perhaps, than our competition,” he said, “and we will
see increasing instances of countries basically
saying, 'this is too hard and I can get what I need
from somebody else a lot easier.’"

General Jones said several countries in North Africa
are examples of how a relatively small amount of U.S.
spending can have a large impact on their ability to
control their territory and prevent terrorists from
gaining a foothold.  

He said it is also having a positive impact on their
view of the United States. "We're actually having a
strategic change, in my opinion, in the way that
section of the Islamic World perceives the United
States,” said General Jones.  “Things are changing
dramatically.  We're building new friends, new
partnerships, and we're doing it for an amazingly low
amount of investment."

General Jones said there are similar examples in West
Africa as well.  He said it is always less expensive
to try to help a country develop in ways that are not
hostile to the United States, than to confront that
country if it does become hostile. 

One member of the committee asked the general how
Congress can be sure that military assistance does not
go to governments that will use it to repress their
people or threaten their neighbors.  General Jones
said each country must be evaluated individually. "If
a nation is generally progressing, if we're teaching
and helping nations develop militaries that act in
support of human rights, the defense of democratically
elected institutions and have a willingness to work
with us and seek out our leadership and our
assistance,” he said, “then these are good things."

General Jones echoed frequent comments by Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying that in the past
Congress has sometimes been too quick to cut off
military aid to governments that adopt policies it
doesn't like.  The general said such moves often do
more harm than good, sometimes allowing for the
emergence of an entire generation of military officers
who have had no contact with the United States or U.S.
military values, and making it more difficult to
develop the kind of relationships and alliances the
United States needs. 

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