Tue, Feb 06 2007

War and Peace

As years go by it gets harder to know just where our tax money goes. We often hear of committees, research projects and buildings we didn't even know we were paying for. People are elected, hired by election winners and appointed by election winners until their tasks and funding are so layered that we don't even know how or why they came to be where they are or why we should be footing the bill.

With all the talk about defense and terror and with the pointed conflicts lately about our military presence in Iraq, I'm wondering why we don't hear more about an agency with a slightly different focus, the United States Institute of Peace. This agency is the one that recently reported on the fact that Great Britain was now the top target for al-Qaeda attacks. The site maintains an extensive list of links to web sites of governments' Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices, has its own online bookstore and has a weekly newsletter you can sign up for to get news and other information. Their experts frequently brief our legislators on current conditions and conflicts throughout the world. Their funding comes from Congress (which means you and I help foot the bill) and they also receive contributions and gifts. (Last month Chevron gave a sizeable contribution toward the construction of a permanent building that will serve as home base for the institute's operations in Washington, D.C.) The agency is in a unique position with its mix of funding sources and the range of influence it has in a rapidly changing political arena, which makes it a very worthwhile one for taxpayers to take time to become familiar with.

posted at: 11:52 | category: /Politics | link to this entry