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Washington: Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned on Tuesday against the risk of a "creeping militarisation" of US foreign policy, saying the State Department should lead US engagement with other countries, with the military playing a supporting role.
"We cannot kill or capture our way to victory" in the long-term campaign against terrorism, Gates said, arguing that military action should be subordinate to political and economic efforts to undermine extremism.
In a related development, the Pentagon on Tuesday released the list of Army officers nominated by President George Bush for promotion to the rank of one-star general, marking a new generation of Army leaders. The list, resulting from a selection board led by top Iraq commander General David Petraeus, includes several officers skilled in the counterinsurgency doctrine that Petraeus helped write - a doctrine that embraces a broader approach to winning conflicts.
The list has been highly anticipated in Army circles because of Petraeus' role and the belief that Army promotions must harness the experience forged by today's counterinsurgencies and help shape a future Army less narrowly focused on conventional combat.
"America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and under-funded for far too long - relative to what we traditionally spend on the military," Gates said at a dinner organised by the US Global Leadership Campaign. Over the next 20 years, Gates predicted, "the most persistent and potentially dangerous threats will come less from emerging ambitious states, than from failing ones that cannot meet the basic needs of their people."
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
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