Fund peace, not war

In his address to Congress, President Trump said, “We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict.” But his policy proposals (to add $54 billion in new Pentagon spending and make devastating cuts to the State Department and USAID) don’t match up with the rhetoric.

As Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted: “Undercutting diplomacy and foreign aid makes our military’s job harder. Trump’s ‘security budget’ completely misses the point.”

U.S. war spending is already unprecedented, equaling what the next seven countries combined spend on their military forces. In place of giving the Pentagon money they did not request, requiring that they be subject to audit and reducing waste seems more sensible.

More than 120 retired three and four-star generals wrote: “We know from our service in uniform that many of the crises our nation faces do not have military solutions alone.”

I hope Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch will work to fund diplomacy, not war.

Donna Nordstrom

Hayden