Pentagon’s new foreign military training proposal greeted with skepticism in Congress

Jun 3, 2020

The Pentagon is pitching Congress on a new training initiative for foreign military officers that would run parallel to a program that currently exists under the auspices of the State Department, Al-Monitor has learned.

The Pentagon’s draft legislation — obtained by Al-Monitor — says the proposal would “not duplicate or conflict with activities under the International Military Education and Training authorities,” which the State Department oversees. Under the Pentagon’s draft proposal, the Defense Department would implement its program in coordination with the State Department.

But some purse-string holders on Capitol Hill are skeptical of the idea.

Tim Rieser, a foreign policy aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said the Pentagon initiative appears to be essentially a duplication of the State Department program, but one under the Defense Department’s control. “For an administration whose mantra is shrinking the federal government, you have to wonder what’s really behind this,” he said. “What problem are they trying to solve?”

The State Department has requested $105 million in International Military Education and Training funding for fiscal year 2021, including $17.5 million for the Middle East and North Africa. That funding is used to train foreign military officers from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The State Department has also requested $1.6 million to train officers from Turkey.