The plan to cut the State Department budget, particularly the foreign aid program, is built on the false premise that it is simply money wasted on third-world countries. The State Department plays a vital role in the exercise of United States power. Overseas embassies are the spearheads of U.S. foreign policy, including representing U.S. interests to foreign governments, helping U.S. citizens in distress in foreign countries, conducting diplomatic negotiations, enforcing bilateral and multilateral agreements and treaties, representing the U.S. in trade and commerce, and other essential functions of U.S. policy.
These are the people who eventually work to mend and repair relations with countries like Mexico and Germany after administration statements and policies cause consternation among our allies.
You can be sure that as a result of budget cuts, one of the things that will suffer will be embassy security. Do we need another Benghazi? After numerous investigations into the lack of security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, do we really need to cut security at embassies worldwide and leave them open to terrorist attacks?
Read the rest of the piece at OpsLens.
Luis Rueda is an OpsLens Contributor and retired CIA operations officer with more than 28 years of experience in the clandestine service.
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