Controversies:

House Votes to Revoke USIP Charter

Lawmakers in the U.S. House tried in 2011 to eliminate the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), claiming the agency was a waste of federal funding.

Created during the Reagan administration, the USIP is the only government body devoted exclusively to international peace building. Its annual budget is about $40 million, which is quite small compared to most federal offices.

Supporters pointed out that officials from the USIP have worked in war zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan, to help mitigate deadly conflicts.

A former U.S. general, Anthony Zinni, credited the USIP with helping in Mahmudiya, Iraq, which was situated in the so-called “triangle of death.”

Nevertheless, Republicans and Democrats tried to deauthorize the USIP, voting 226-194 to kill it. The Senate did not agree and the institute was spared for 2011, though its funding came under scrutiny again in 2012.

Why Did Congress Cut Funds For Peace In A Time Of War? (by Wesley Kanne Clark, Christian Science Monitor)

Prevent War: Save the U.S. Institute of Peace (Friends Committee on National Legislation)

U.S. Institute of Peace Is Target in Spending War (by Norman Ornstein, Roll Call)

The Daniel Pipes Appointment

Daniel Pipes, a conservative Middle East analyst and columnist who had angered many Muslims, was nominated by President George W. Bush to be on the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace on April 1, 2003. After a vote on the nomination was stalled in Congress, President Bush installed Pipes with a recess appointment on August 23. In response to his appointment, a number of Islamic and Arab organizations, Democrats and civil rights activists protested. Pipes’ brief, controversial tenure ended in December, and he was not re-nominated to the board.

Daniel Pipes and the U.S. Institute of Peace (Daniel Pipes Website)

Pipes-Schemes (by Michael Scherer, Mother Jones)

Sourcewatch: Daniel Pipes

Bush Appointee is a Bigot Disguised as a Scholar (by Fedwa Wazwaz, St. Paul Pioneer Press)