Congress Should Support Military Aid to Pakistan

So, it seems as though the Obama Administration has decided to wisely call a spade a spade and address the whole "Pakistan thing" with more than just rhetoric. It seems to be a pattern lately that the Administration will think with their head and Congress will think with their...you know where I'm going.

You see, Congressional Democrats are once again losing sight of the forest for the trees. They seem to be falling into the same cookie-cutter, ideological, one-size-fits-all trap that led to the recent demise and subsequent marginalization of the Republicans. This approach is foolish and dangerous, especially when it is executed vis-a-vis a resurgent Taliban operating in a country with apparent impunity. The challenge they present is just one of the new 21st Century gray areas that Congress apparently has trouble adapting to.

So what is it they are doing? Bob Gates (with the enthusiastic blessing of his boss) is pushing Congress to give our military the same capacity to back the military in Pakistan that they have Iraq and Afghanistan. This would probably translate to better kit, better training, more armed personnel, etc. In essence, it would help to untie the one hand both we and the Pakistani military have in executing combat operations against the Taliban in Pakistan.

Seems reasonable enough. But, Democratic members of the House Appropriations and Armed Services committees are questioning "the appropriateness of providing foreign assistance for Pakistan under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense" and saying that "the responsibility for training Pakistani police and military forces resides with the Department of State." To me, the smacks of liberal, Boomer-esque aversion to military force. The resources and expertise of State are most efficient after DoD has done it's work. Left to the bureaucratic juggernaut that State is, Pakistan's army would be trained to plant flowers with plastic knives and forks, not mop up a guerrilla insurgency.

In my opinion, the challenges we face in the 21st Century call for the coordination of Defense and State. The Bush Administration didn't see this; they operated in the 20th Century vacuum of absolutes, preferring a one-sided military approach to everything. Now, it seems Congress is approaching things in the same vacuum, albeit on the other end of the spectrum.

For the sake of not just Americans, but Pakistanis, Indians, Afghans, you name it, we need to adapt to the challenges laid out before us, not quixotically hope they will adapt to how we would like to handle them. If Congress is not up to the task, we need to vote them out and replace them with people who are.