[it turns out not just the US military is stretched to it's limits]
http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/_files/120903yager.pdf GAO For Release on Delivery Expected at 10:00 a.m., EST Tuesday, December 9, 2003 HUMAN CAPITAL Significant Challenges Confront U.S. Trade Agencies In recent years, the United States has been pursuing a broad trade policy agenda whose cumulative impact has tested the limits of the government's negotiating capacity. The administration has continued an ambitious negotiating agenda relating to the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO)1 and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) multilateral negotiations, plus a series of new, bilateral and subregional trade negotiations following the passage of the Trade Act of 2002.2 Our work in this area shows that pursuing such a broad negotiating agenda has strained available resources, leading to requests for additional staff in recent years. Finally, the shifting global trade environment complicates efforts to monitor and enforce existing agreements, placing a substantial burden on the human capital resources of U.S. trade agencies. Based on our recent work, the United States has become the most frequent defendant in WTO trade dispute resolution proceedings. In addition, as the U.S. economy has shifted toward services and high-technology industries, our recent work shows that the industry committee structure that provides advice to U.S. trade agencies has required realignment to reflect these changes. Finally, a new set of challenges has also evolved in response to China's growing influence in international trade. Our work shows that these forces have stretched the human capital resources of U.S. trade agencies. Although the government has taken steps to address some of these challenges, these and other changes in the global trade environment require that the trade agencies constantly monitor and update their human capital strategies to ensure that they are closely linked to the strategic goals of the agencies.
