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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. 
 
STATE 00066001  002 OF 004 
 
 
-- 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. 
 
 
STATE 00066001  003 OF 004 
 
 
-- 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 
 
STATE 00066001  004 OF 004 
 
 
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