Pentagon asks to arm foreign troops

Where assistance would go is unspecified

THE WASHINGTON POST

Originally published Monday, April 8, 2002

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is seeking broad congressional authority to spend tens of millions of dollars on military assistance to unspecified foreign countries or "indigenous forces," authority that traditionally has rested with the State Department.

The proposal, which would initially involve $130 million in fiscal 2002, is buried in a Pentagon request for $14 billion in supplemental spending sent to Congress last month. The initiative has drawn concern from officials at the State Department and on congressional committees responsible for overseeing foreign operations.

They see the Pentagon trying to cross a line and, in effect, establish a parallel foreign security assistance program. As proposed, the Pentagon spending authority would not be subject to existing limits on the State Department's foreign assistance programs, including provisions relating to violations of human rights, sponsorship of terrorism and non-payment of debt. Where the money is spent would come solely at the discretion of the defense secretary.

Defense officials contend they need the new authority to cover extraordinary situations triggered by the Bush administration's global war on terrorism. As a case in point, they cite difficulty late last year coming up with money to compensate Pakistan for fuel, security and other assistance in the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

"We couldn't pay our bills to Pakistan because we had no authority and State didn't want to draw on its funds," a senior defense official said.

One, for $100 million, would apply to foreign nations "in furtherance of the global war on terrorism." The other, for $30 million, would support "indigenous forces engaged in activities in furtherance of United States national security aims, including Operation Enduring Freedom and related activities in combating terrorism."

Nothing in the proposal would require the defense secretary to get congressional approval before spending the money or even notify Congress of the details before or after the expenditures.

Some leading members of Congress are wary of giving the Pentagon the new transfer authority it wants, even if the amounts being sought in fiscal 2002 are relatively modest.

"The concerns this raises are less about the sums requested than about the troubling precedent it would set, and that makes this a controversial proposal," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations.

Several congressional staff aides voiced additional concerns about a lack of specificity in the Pentagon's proposed provisions and the absence of conditions on how the money would be spent.

"There's no thought whatsoever to conducting our own foreign policy," the senior defense official said. "Whatever would be done would be coordinated closely."

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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