And here comes the Civilian version of the surge. This needed happen a long time ago, and we have some serious catching up to do. The reporter for this does have a point with the UN post as well–we paid for it, we might as well make the best out of it and get someone in that deputy ambassador slot that can make the most of it.
The one part of this article that is really not discussed that much, but is important to our industry, is the protection of this civilian army. Do they want to use the military to protect these individuals, or use a smaller footprint and go with civilian contractors through the WPPS program, or what?
It would make sense to me, to use the smaller footprint. Hell, use a bunch of guys like Tim Lynch and company to protect these individuals. I am sure they will be way more effective that way. My fear is that this larger presence of civilian employees will be smothered by large military protective details, and that might really piss off the local populations. Especially if these larger details attract the bad guys, and the villages get stuck in the middle. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and will keep my ear to the tracks. –Matt
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Hundreds of New Civilian Employees Proposed for Afghanistan
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 18, 2009; 3:43 PM
Hundreds of additional U.S. diplomats and civilian officials would be deployed to Afghanistan as part of the new civil-military regional strategy that President Obama’s top national security advisers plan to present for his signature next week, according to administration officials.
Leading this proposed civilian expansion will be two veteran senior diplomats: Peter W. Galbraith, who will be the deputy to the top United Nations official on the ground; and Francis J. Ricciardone Jr., who will get the unprecedented title of “deputy ambassador” to boost the diplomatic heft of the U.S. Embassy. Obama last week nominated Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the former U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, as the country’s ambassador.
Other civilian officials are to be drawn from government departments such as Agriculture and Justice, and hundreds of new “full-time, temporary” positions are planned under a hiring program authorized by President George W. Bush four days before he left office.
