Cross Roads or Cross Purposes? Tensions Between Military and Humanitarian Providers

I October 2001, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed a conference of humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Washington, D.C. There, he remarked “I want you to know that I have made it clear to my staff here and to all of our ambassadors around the world that I am serious about making sure we have the best relationship with the NGOs who are such a force multiplier for us, such an important part of our combat team.”1 Although his purpose in this address was undoubtedly to build a foundation for a whole-ofnation effort to promote democracy, respect for human rights, and the elimination of terrorism, the secretary’s speech had the opposite effect, angering many of the conference’s participants who felt that the US Government was seeking to co-opt their organizations by making them mere ancillaries to the war effort. In 2006 to 2007, Army Lieutenant Colonel James L. Cook was the CJ3 (Deputy for Plans and Operations) for Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) 76, covering Regional Command (RC) South and RC East in Afghanistan. His command controlled most of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), and all of the American PRTs operating in those areas of responsibility. Troubling to LTC Cook was the level of redundancy of aid and assistance programs undertaken by the military, government agencies, and the NGO community. He was confused as to why: “as operators, it was so difficult to get everyone to row together” and divide responsibilities to most efficiently and effectively use the limited resources at hand.2 Although he found levels of access to and cooperation with NGOs varied from project to project and NGO to NGO, Cook felt area-wide communication and cooperation were less than he thought possible and NGOs were (largely) unresponsive to his staff’s efforts to streamline the distribution of reconstruction and aid monies.