UN SECURITY COUNCIL: THEMATIC DEBATE ON UN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 066001

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPKO MARR UNSC
SUBJECT: UN SECURITY COUNCIL: THEMATIC DEBATE ON UN
PEACEKEEPING


1. (U) The past six months have been a time of renewed energy
and attention to the challenges facing UN peacekeeping
operations. Ambassador Rice told the C-34 on February 24
that peacekeeping was a priority for the United States. Over
the past few months, the French/UK initiative, supported by a
series of Japanese-chaired meetings of the Security Council
Working Group on Peacekeeping, has launched a useful
discussion of mandates, resources and benchmarks. The UN's
"New Horizon", an internal review and consultations with
Member States on the direction UN peacekeeping should take
over the next few years, will issue a non-paper in the near
future and will culminate in formal recommendations towards
the end of 2009. On June 22, senior representatives of
Defense and State met with U/SYGs LeRoy and Malcorra at the
National Defense University. The June 29 UN Security Council
thematic debate on UN peacekeeping offers an early
opportunity to reinforce the strong U.S. support for UN
peacekeeping expressed at the NDU meeting. Over the next few
months there will be several additional occasions or events
at which the U.S. could underline that commitment, both
politically and by announcing any concrete responses to
specific UN requests for U.S. assistance. These include the
PRST the UK intends to introduce during its August Security
Council Presidency; the U.S. Security Council Presidency in
September; the discussions of UNMIL and MINUSTAH in the
Security Council in September and October; the formal
recommendations resulting from the New Horizon review,
probably in November; and the MONUC mandate renewal in
December. USUN may draw on the points in paragraph 2 for the
June 29 thematic debate on UN peacekeeping.


2. (U) Begin points:

-- Mr. President (and Foreign Minister),the U.S. is honored
by your presence here today and is grateful to Turkey for
convening this very important and timely open debate on
peacekeeping. We warmly welcome the participation of troop
and police contributing countries in this discussion. The
U.S takes their views seriously. We value their sacrifice
and pay tribute to their brave men and women serving
honorably under the UN flag. I would like to thank
Under-Secretaries-General Alain LeRoy and Susana Malcorra for
their thorough briefings.

-- Much of what Under-Secretaries-General LeRoy and Malcorra
just said echoes what we have heard key peacekeeping
stakeholders say.

-- UN peacekeeping operations save lives, prevent escalation
and spread of wars, and provide hope to those who have had
none for decades. That is what we have been told by the
democratically-elected Presidents, representatives and people
of countries such as Haiti, Liberia, Timor-Leste, Sierra
Leone and Burundi. The U.S. believes peacekeeping is one of
the most important activities of the UN. That is why we have
voted in favor of budgets for which we will be assessed
almost $2 billion this year.

-- At the same time, we have heard key constituencies call
attention to challenges confronting UN peacekeeping that
deserve our serious attention:

-- Host governments warn about a potential return to
violence, if UN peacekeepers depart too soon, before key
State institutions -- especially security and rule of law
institutions -- and the local economy are functioning
effectively.
-- Local civilians, women and children in the DRC and
elsewhere plead for peacekeepers to better protect them from
marauding gangs, rebel groups, and ill-disciplined soldiers.

-- Troop and police contributors point to a widening gap
between the expectations and risks they face and their input
on decisions others make.

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-- Financial contributors, in the throes of an economic
crisis, struggle to ensure budget discipline, eliminate
waste, prevent abuse and achieve economies and savings.

-- The Secretariat appeals for political support to unlock
stalled peace processes that does not always come, and for
troops, police and enabling units that do not always arrive
on time or to the standard required.

-- Peacekeeping missions decry persistent delays in the
personnel and procurement systems, which have not kept pace
with the ever-expanding field demands, in ever-more dangerous
and austere conditions.

-- The exceptional mission leaders and managers who achieve
success despite these constraints do not get the praise they
have earned; but, at the same time, not enough of the
missions are equipped with the dynamic and diverse senior
management teams they deserve.

-- And, Security Council members question whether the process
of formulating peacekeeping mandates does justice to the
concerns these various constituencies voice and the
responsibilities the Council itself must face.

-- In summary, what we have heard is that peacekeeping is an
indispensable tool available to the UN Security Council to
fulfill its responsibilities for the maintenance of
international peace and security. Our responsibilities do
not end when we adopt a peacekeeping mandate. In many ways,
that is where they begin. At present, there are serious
challenges to effective implementation of peacekeeping
mandates. It is therefore incumbent upon the members of the
Security Council, acting individually and collectively, to
help address them. The U.S. is ready to do its part.

--First, we will publicize the accomplishments of UN
peacekeeping operations and of the countries contributing
troops and police to them, as well as highlight the real
constraints they face.

-- Second, it goes without saying that the Security Council
will continue to consider the full range of responses
appropriate to a given situation. We believe that UN
peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council to
use appropriate force to defend themselves and the mandate,
must be willing and able to do so. Poorly armed and organized
gangs, rebel groups and others outside a peace process should
not be allowed to block the deployment of UN peacekeepers or
thwart the implementation of their mandate, including to
protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.
That said, we will recognize the limits of what UN
peacekeeping can accomplish, especially in the face of
full-blown war or opposition by the host government. UN
peacekeepers cannot do everything and go everywhere.
Sometimes other forms of UN-authorized deployments, such as
regional efforts or multinational forces, are the more
appropriate response. And, in most cases, effective
mediation must precede and accompany UN peacekeepers,
involvement if they are to succeed. This belief has guided
our recent approach on Somalia, where conditions for
successful UN peacekeeping are not yet there, but where
sustained international support and assistance remain
urgently needed.

-- Third, the U.S. will dedicate greater attention to the
Security Council discussions on the renewal of existing
peacekeeping mandates, seeking more comprehensive assessments
of progress achieved and obstacles to mandate implementation
that remain. We will use those discussions as an opportunity
to take stock of whether re-prioritization or re-focusing of
U.S. assistance to the missions and countries concerned could
help expedite the missions' successful completion. I stress
the word successful, because we will not support the
arbitrary or precipitous downsizing of missions. We hope to
commence this new approach in September, when Liberia and
Haiti are scheduled to be discussed in the Security Council.


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-- Fourth, the U.S. will intensify diplomatic efforts to help
unlock some of the stalled or faltering peace processes where
UN peacekeeping operations are deployed, starting with Darfur
and Sudan,s North-South peace process. As you know,
President Obama has appointed General Scott Gration as his
Special Envoy for Sudan, precisely for that purpose. Last
week,s conference in Washington was an example of how we
intend to play an active role in boosting peace efforts
there. Getting these political processes back on track lies
at the heart of enabling UNAMID, UNMIS and MINURCAT to
implement their mandates more effectively.

-- Fifth, the U.S. will strengthen its work with the UN and
other willing partners to help expand the overall pool of
willing and able troop and police contributors for current
and future peacekeeping operations, including by providing
improved training and equipment assistance through the Global
Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) and its Africa-oriented
program, the Africa Contingency Operations Training
Assistance program (ACOTA). Through GPOI, the US has trained
75,000 peacekeepers and facilitated the deployment of just
under 49,000 peacekeepers to 20 operations around the world,
most serving in Africa. Over the next five years, GPOI will
continue direct training but will give top priority towards
assisting its partner countries to achieve self-sufficiency
in peacekeeping training. The immediate priority will be to
assist with generating the missing forces and enabling units
required for UNAMID, MINURCAT and MONUC to protect civilians
under imminent threat of physical violence, although force
generation is only one part of the equation for effective
mandate implementation. We will also engage in discussions
over the longer term, with particular emphasis on increasing
the overall supply of rapidly deployable brigade-sized forces
which could buy time for, participate in and reinforce UN
peacekeeping operations in times of crisis. The U.S. also
will consider different ways in which we can support the
increasing need for effective formed police units.

-- Sixth, the U.S. is willing to consider directly
contributing more military observers, military staff
officers, civilian police and other civilian personnel to UN
peacekeeping operations. The U.S. will explore ways to
support UN peacekeeping operations through provision of
enabling assistance, either by ourselves or in cooperation
with partners.

-- Seventh, the U.S. will consider with an open mind
practical suggestions from troop and police contributors
about how to deepen consultations between them, the UNSC and
the Secretariat, including redoubling efforts to implement
existing undertakings in resolutions 1327 and 1353.

-- Eighth, the U.S. will review carefully and with an open
mind reform proposals from the Secretariat to address the
many challenges mentioned today. This includes those put
forward already in the Secretary-General,s reports on
mediation and peace-building, and those to come in the
follow-up to the New Horizon non-paper and related proposals
on field support, the DPKO/OCHA study on the protection of
civilians in peacekeeping contexts, and the forthcoming
Secretary-General,s report on the follow-up to the Prodi
Panel Report on AU-UN cooperation. We appeal to the
Secretariat to be as concrete and specific as possible,
indicating why previous reforms and current practice are not
adequate, and spelling out more clearly expected benefits to
be derived from new initiatives.

-- Ninth, we are ready to work with others to bring a more
coherent approach to peacekeeping and peace-building at the
UN, in the Security Council, the General Assembly, ECOSOC,
the Peacebuilding Commission, and the governing boards of UN
Agencies, Funds and Programs. Support for building peace
must consider the linkages between such activities as
security sector reform, demobilization and reintegration, and
early recovery and development and ensure sufficient and
sustained support for them.

-- And tenth, we are ready to engage in discussions on the
longer-term future of UN peacekeeping, within the context of

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evolutions in contemporary conflicts, the global economic and
financial crisis, evolving capacities and constraints of
regional organizations and the Bretton Woods Institutions,
and rapid technological advances that could revolutionize
aspects of this business.

-- We are ready, Mr. President, to do all of these things in
partnership with members of the Council, TCCs, PCCs, the
Secretariat and many others on whom peacekeeping success
depends, not least of which are the countries to which UN
peacekeeping missions are or may in the future be deployed.

-- The United Kingdom and France, Canada, Japan, the
Under-Secretaries-General of DPKO and DFS, and now Turkey,
through their various initiatives, have done us all a great
service by forcing us to confront these challenges. We thank
them for their efforts, and thank you, Mr. President, for
convening this meeting.

End points.
CLINTON