House chairman wants civilian agencies to play larger role in Iraq (Skelton)

[maddezmom]

Source: GovExec.com

House chairman wants civilian agencies to play larger role in IraqBy Megan Scully CongressDaily April 29, 2008 House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said today he hopes to insert language into the fiscal 2009 defense authorization bill to require more cooperation between federal agencies doing work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Skelton acknowledged that his committee's markup of the authorization measure, set for next week, will be just the first step in a long debate that will involve several congressional committees.

But he hoped his panel could approve binding language that would relieve the pressure on deployed military personnel and give more responsibility for reconstruction and other duties to the State Department and other agencies.

"You need all of the agencies working together," Skelton said. "The military can't do it all."

Skelton's comments today echoed concerns he has raised with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Bush administration has failed to create long-term policies to improve collaboration among departments involved in national security.


Read more: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0408/042908cdpm1.htm

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Cost issues, war sap US military readiness-lawmaker 30 Apr 2008 00:18:23 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds Skelton quotes, Waxman hearing, GAO report)

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - A top Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday called for urgent improvement of the U.S. military's readiness, saying the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and cost overruns in weapons programs had sapped its ability to respond quickly to a crisis elsewhere.

Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat who heads the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said military officials had finally begun to acknowledge these problems after years of questioning by Congress.

"Should a major unexpected contingency occur today, it could not be answered in a timely fashion and this worries me to death," Skelton told a group of defense writers.

"We are in dire need of upgrading our readiness," he said, citing concerns about military training, the strain of repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and difficulties ensuring troops had the equipment they needed.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29335844.htm

[LynnTheDem]

1. Yeah, the ones already there are doing such a fucking great job!

How the fuck did this country get such damned stupid "leaders".

[ohio2007]

2. What civilian agencies are in his district ?

pork

[Preston120]

3. The Heck with this. Get Out of Iraq! It's an "Unjust and Immoral War"

[ohio2007]

4. So when does his quotes of a need for a draft start to surface ?

He wants "civilian" personell to take up the slack from the military. That black water experiment proved to be rather controversial.