Men skal man tro udtalelser til samme avis fra den republikanske formand for Senatets finansudvalg, senator Lindsey O. Graham, vil Kongressen afvise drastiske nedskæringer i udenrigstjenesten og u-landshjælpen, så "American soft power continues to be a national security priority."
“It is dead on arrival, it is not going to happen, it would be a disaster,” sagde Graham tirsdag. “This budget destroys soft power, it puts our diplomats at risk and it’s going nowhere”, noterede den 61-årige dybt konservative politiker fra delstaten South Carolina, som nærmest til det sidste undlod at støtte Trumps præsident-kandidatur.
Republikanerne har 52 af senatets 100 pladser.
The cut to State Department (udenrigsministeriets, red.) funding comes on top of several signals that the White House is reducing the role and influence of the department and the diplomatic corps, noterer Washington Post.
More than 120 retired three- and four-star generals sent a letter to House and Senate leaders protesting any large reduction in funding for diplomacy.
“Elevating and strengthening diplomacy and development alongside defense are critical to keeping America safe,” they wrote, adding: “We know from our service in uniform that many of the crises our nation faces do not have military solutions alone".
Og i et længere indlæg i det amerikanske Politico Magazine skriver pensioneret general James Stavridis (tidl. øverst-ommanderende for USAs centrale kommando), og pens. admiral Anthony Zinni, fhv. øverstkommanderende for NATOs styrker i Europa, bl.a.:
"Across the globe, 60 million people have been forced to flee their homes – the most since World War II. In the last decade, the number of armed conflicts worldwide has tripled and the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance has almost doubled to 125 million.
In Africa, Boko Haram threatens much of Nigeria and surrounding countries, while South Sudan continues to be embroiled in conflict, Burundi is in the midst of a political upheaval, and the Central African Republic has seen years of brutal violence. And these are just the most notable hot spots.
Yet despite the escalating needs, we have increasingly seen resources stripped from the International Affairs Budget in recent years – which makes up just a mere 1 percent of the entire federal budget. While our military is the strongest and most skilled in the world, we must always be prepared for the next danger on the horizon.
This means we must strengthen our strategic investments in America’s development and diplomatic programs in order to confront the challenges we face and prevent crises before they happen.
America spends so little to accomplish so much — and it is troubling to see these limited funds decrease year after year for our diplomats and development professionals. Without foreign assistance, our military would face increased deployments and greater threats that could have been averted."
USAs udviklingsbudget udgjorde i 2015 ifølge OECDs bistandskomite (DAC), i alt 31,1 milliarder dollars (ca. 217 mia. kr.). En del af beløbet administreres af Amerikas Danida – USAID.
Danmarks udviklingsbudget udgør til sammmenligning omkring 15 mia. kr. De 217 milliarder udgør ca. en procent af forbundsbudgettet i USA, men meget mindre af landets enorme bruttonationalindkomst (BNI).
