Military deep into civilian duties

Pentagon chief says work is best left to State Department

Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke of the US military's involvement in aid work at Kansas State University last week. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

By John Donnelly

Globe Staff / December 3, 2007

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WASHINGTON - The US military, deeply immersed in reconstruction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, has almost overnight become a major player in the traditionally civilian work of helping poor countries develop. It now spends more than 21 percent of all US overseas aid, nearly a fourfold percentage increase in just three years. (Full article: 1158 words)