SecDef laments paucity of reconstruction talent.

• Position: Robert Gates, defense secretary - Brief article

A dramatic downsizing of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the past decade is now resulting in undue burdens for the Defense Department, said Pentagon chief Robert Gates. Humanitarian and reconstruction duties in Iraq and Afghanistan are having to be carried our by military personnel and Pentagon civilian volunteers because the State Department does not have enough qualified people, complained Gates. "We have two significant problems in this country and in this government in terms of dealing with these...