Another task for Crocker: Fix relations between embassy and USAID

Posted By Josh Rogin Monday, July 25, 2011 - 6:35 PM Share

Ambassador Ryan Crocker was sworn in today as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. One of his first tasks in his new job will be to repair the dysfunctional relationship between U.S. diplomats in Kabul and Afghanistan-based USAID officials, which has hampered U.S. development assistance in the country.

The Kabul embassy -- which Crocker as interim charge d'affaires was tasked with reopening in January 2002 after the fall of the Taliban -- has an office to manage all development projects in Afghanistan called the Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs (CDDEA). The office was meant to oversee USAID's efforts in the country, but according to a recent report by the State Department Inspector General's office, the relationship has suffered from bureaucratic and communications issues between aid workers and diplomats.

The report found that the problems between the embassy and USAID in Kabul stem in part from the State Department's idea that chiefs of mission should be in charge of all development issues in their country, as envisioned by the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) that State released earlier this year.

"CDDEA's oversight of USAID in Kabul has highlighted differences in bureaucratic culture that exist between the Department and USAID at missions throughout the world," the report stated. "Although the QDDR envisions chiefs of mission as the ‘chief executive officer' of a multi-agency organization, this remains a work in progress and unresolved questions remain about their roles, authorities, and oversight responsibilities for assistance programs largely implemented by other agencies."

The report went on to say that bureaucratic differences "exacerbate feelings of professional misunderstanding" between CDDEA and USAID, and that officials in Washington need to step in to impose a resolution to these problems.

The IG said that Crocker should work with the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) Marc Grossman, Deputy Secretary Tom Nides, and the Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance to explain to USAID exactly how they should work with the embassy.

USAID personnel in Kabul chafe at the embassy's demands for lots of briefings and explanations of their financial management. They also feel like second-class citizens because the embassy doesn't provide them with the best housing and office space, the report said.

On the other hand, the embassy folks don't believe the USAID personnel are on board with the "whole of government" approach, the report states. They think USAID withholds information from them and sometimes creates political messes they are then forced to clean up.

The USAID mission has responsibility for a large portion what will reportedly be over $71 billion of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan by the end of 2011, making it a significant player in the largest U.S. development mission in the world.

It's been a rough few weeks for the USAID mission in Afghanistan. A report last week by the Government Accountability Office found that USAID is failing to properly oversee aid dollars.

"Direct assistance to the Afghan government involves considerable risk given the extent of corruption, the weak institutional capacity of the Afghan government to manage finances, the volatile and high-threat security environment, and that the U.S. funds may be obligated months or years after they are awarded," the report said. "Although risk assessment is a key component of internal controls, current USAID policy does not require preaward risk assessments of all Afghan government recipients of U.S. direct assistance funds."

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EXPLORE:AFGHANISTAN, DEVELOPMENT, DIPLOMACY, FOREIGN AID, STATE DEPARTMENT, U.S. CONGRESS, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

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CORNELIAA

5:43 AM ET

July 27, 2011

Why State is Incompetent at Development

This is a great example of pin striped cookie-pushing diplomats meddling in development, an important aspect of our overall foreign development goals.

This IG report is but a roadmap to allow State to further subjugate US long term national interests in development to short term squandering of billions in Afghanistan. Cocker won't fix anything, he will only beat into submission USAID's staff as State has done so well over the last ten years.

It is sad to see how little State Department diplomats understand about development and how so much time and effort is wasted on short term policies that change all to often based on the whim of Ambassador's and their staff who arrogantly dismiss the efforts of USAID staff in the field.

Raj Shah, the USAID Administrator is no more than a puppet of Hillary and has not the knowledge, capacity or will to do what is right for US development goals. Which is precisely why he has his present job. If he had any intestinal fortitude he would stand up and support his Missions and staff and not cave in to the conflicting short term demands placed on his Missions overseas. Afghanistan is but one example of the basic problem that exists in Washington as well as overseas..

CONSUL-AT-ARMS

10:33 PM ET

August 3, 2011

re: "Another task for Crocker"

"Ambassador Ryan Crocker was sworn in today as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. One of his first tasks in his new job will be to repair the dysfunctional relationship between U.S. diplomats in Kabul and Afghanistan-based USAID officials, which has hampered U.S. development assistance in the country."

The relationship between State and USAID, to put it opaquely, has been in transition for years. The office of USAID's chief or "Administrator" is held or "dual-hatted" by a senior State Dept. official.

And yet USAID is not (yet) actually an organic or subsidiary agency within the Department of State.

At the same time, except for military or DoD personnel operating under the authority of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that puts them under the authority of a military commander, all official U.S. persons working within a foreign country are supposed to come under the authority of the "chief of mission" or COM (i.e., the U.S. ambassador).

Confused yet? Okay; now imagine you're a USAID staffer working in Afghanistan

I've quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms2.blogspot.com/2011/07/re-another-task-for-crocker-fix.html

GARLAND KUCHTO

7:09 AM ET

August 18, 2011

Another task for Crocker: Fix relations between embassy and USAI

The report found that the problems between the embassy and USAID in Kabul stem in part from the State Department’s idea that chiefs of mission should be in charge of all development issues in their country,as envisioned by the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) that State released earlier this year. "CDDEA’s oversight of USAID in Kabul has highlighted differences in bureaucratic culture that exist between the Department and USAID at missions throughout the world," the report stated. "Although the QDDR envisions chiefs of mission as the ?chief executive officer’ of a multi-agency organization, this remains a work in progress and unresolved questions remain about their roles, authorities, and oversight responsibilities for assistance programs largely implemented by other agencies." The report went on to say that bureaucratic differences "exacerbate feelings of professional misunderstanding" between CDDEA and USAID, and that officials in Washington need to step in to impose a resolution to these problems. The IG said that Crocker should work with the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) sara jay Grossman, Deputy Secretary Tom Nides, and the Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance to explain to USAID exactly how they should work with the embassy. USAID personnel in Kabul chafe at the embassy’s demands for lots of briefings and explanations of their financial management. They also feel like second-class citizens because the embassy doesn’t provide them with the best housing and office space, the report said.

AXELBROOK

10:37 AM ET

August 19, 2011

The United States should

The United States should always be involved in world affairs. However we need to stop trying to force our opinions on others. We also need to allow other countries to decide things for themselves. If they want our help then we should be willing and happy to help. RIO But we can't just jump in just because we want too..

RON PLYMEL

1:28 AM ET

August 22, 2011

It is under strain

The relationship between U.S. diplomats and U.S. Agency for International Development staff in Afghanistan is under strain because of bureaucratic issues and professional misunderstanding, according to a recent report, which said these issues must be resolved before U.S. civilian presence in the Asian country is fully scaled up. Fixing this relationship would be among the list of tasks on the plate of Ryan Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Josh bree olson Rogin of “The Cable” says. A report by the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Inspector General noted that there were bureaucratic issues and professional misunderstanding between diplomats and USAID officials in Afghanistan. It suggested that these issues stem from the State Department’s push to make ambassadors in charge of a multiagency organization in countries with U.S. presence. This was among the recommendations of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review the department released in 2010.