Source: http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/08/23/UN.peacekeep/index.html U.N. peacekeepers need major overhaul, report says UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations must dramatically overhaul its peacekeeping force if it is to avoid the kind of failures that have plagued the world body over the past decade, an international panel said Wednesday. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called the recommended changes -- which include creating the equivalent of a defense ministry to ensure troops can deploy quickly -- are "absolutely essential to make the United Nations a truly credible force for peace." The 10-member panel stopped short of recommending creation of a U.N. army, but called for member states to establish several brigade-size forces of 5,000 troops that could deploy within 30 days of Security Council action. The 58-page document also calls for modernization of operations in New York with the latest telecommunications systems and highly trained staff. "Without such capacity the Secretariat will remain a reactive institution, unable to get ahead of daily events," the report said. Annan appointed the panel of 10 experts after highly critical reports on the U.N. role in Rwanda and Srebrenica. Their job took on added importance after 500 U.N. peacekeepers were taken hostage by rebels in Sierra Leone in May. The report is expected to be high on the agenda of the U.N. Millennium Summit, which will bring together 150 world leaders September 6-8 in New York to address the role of the United Nations in the 21st century. The United Nations was founded after World War II "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." The peacekeeping report said meeting this challenge is the yardstick that people throughout the world still use to judge the organization. "Over the last decade, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to meet the challenge, and it can do no better today," the report said. Panelists stressed that "no failure did more to damage the standing and credibility of United Nations peacekeeping in the 1990s than its reluctance to distinguish victim from aggressor." While U.N. peacekeeping should stick to its "bedrock principles" -- consent of the parties, impartiality and use of force only in self-defense -- the panel said impartiality is not the same as equal treatment of all parties in all cases. In the case of obvious aggressors, it said, "peacekeepers may not only be operationally justified in using force, but morally compelled to do so." The panel emphasized that U.N. troops should be prepared to deal with attacks and hostage taking. Former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi, who chaired the panel, said at a news conference that members were "very, very shocked" at how poorly equipped the U.N. peacekeeping department is. The panel said just 32 officers at U.N. headquarters lead about 27,000 U.N. troops from 20 countries scattered across the globe in 14 peacekeeping operations -- a staff size that no national government would tolerate. Similarly, more than 8,600 civilian police are deployed, with a headquarters staff of only nine. "This is clearly not acceptable," Brahimi said. "This had got to change." ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
