10/29/2004

Contact: Peter H. Gantz
ri@refugeesinternational.org or 202.828.0110 x221

In June 2004 President Bush sought and received support for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) from his counterparts at the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia.  In September 2004 President Bush touted GPOI as a step toward the creation of a “more effective means to stabilize regions in turmoil.”  Yet as Congress left for the election recess, this bold and long-needed step toward fixing global peacekeeping capacity problems seemed doomed.

GPOI is a sensible plan to help expand global capacity for peace and stability operations.  GPOI calls for training and equipping a total of 75,000 peacekeepers worldwide by 2010; enhancing the institutional capacity of the African Union and African sub-regional organizations to plan for and conduct peace and stability operations; developing a transportation and logistics support arrangement to help countries deploy peacekeepers; and building the capacity to train stability police units for establishing law and order during post-conflict operations through creation of an international center of excellence for doctrine and training hosted by Italy.

The United Nations Security Council has authorized more than 60,000 soldiers and civilian police for sixteen missions around the globe.  More than 50,000 soldiers and civilian police are authorized for missions in Africa alone.  The genocide in Darfur and the finalization of the peace process in southern Sudan could require another 35,000 to 50,000 troops and police. Somalia has asked for 20,000 troops to help bring that country to peace at long last.

There are simply not enough well-trained, well-equipped soldiers and police for these demands. Consequently, missions are almost always operating at far less than authorized strength, with dire consequences for the effectiveness of the mission.  Soldiers and police that do deploy often take months to arrive, which can allow a fragile peace to break apart.

This is the dismal set of circumstances that GPOI aims to deal with. GPOI originated from within the Department of Defense, specifically within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz and other senior Defense officials have spoken favorably about GPOI. The uniformed military seems supportive as well.  Some see GPOI as a way to reduce U.S. involvement in peacekeeping, while others see it as a good way to prepare African militaries to be better partners for U.S. troops fighting the war on terrorism.

GPOI is not another Bush administration initiative given a public airing and a private bashing.  Senior State Department officials have lobbied Congress in support of GPOI, and Secretary Powell mentioned the need for GPOI during his Darfur testimony. (The State Department would manage the GPOI program.)  The National Security Council (NSC) has also weighed in.  Sources in Congress have told RI that a high-level NSC official wrote letters in support of GPOI to Congress.

The reception to GPOI from Congress has in fact been positive, with a few notable exceptions.  GPOI enjoys bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House.  The Senate Appropriations Committee included an authorization in the FY 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill for the Department of Defense to transfer FY 2005 funds to the State Department for GPOI.  Although the legislation does not mention a specific funding level, the non-binding report notes the Committee understands that $80 million is needed for the initiative.  The Senate passed the FY 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill in early October, and it now awaits conference with the House version, passed earlier this year without GPOI provisions.

It is here that the train appears to have come off the tracks.  The possibility that the GPOI provision will be stripped out of the bill in conference is blamed in part on the Bush administration’s inability to shepherd important but small-scale foreign policy legislation through Congress.  The office at the State Department that should be working day-to-day with Congress in support of administration foreign policy goals is not well-supported.

But the primary problem, Congressional staffers tell RI, is that several leading Republicans on the Armed Services Committees, in both the House and the Senate, are opposing the GPOI funding provision.  Specifically, staffers tell RI that at least one source of opposition is from within the office of Senator John Warner, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Senator Warner’s office did not respond to RI requests for clarification.

Why Congressional Republicans on the Armed Services Committees would oppose a program that the Department of Defense supports and is willing to back with transfer of funds is difficult to understand.  Observers suggest Senators and Representatives on Armed Services do not feel the Defense Department can afford to part with any money.  This hardly seems credible, given that the Defense Department has received massive Congressional largesse for FY 2005 and that the State Department’s funding is comparably meager and not yet appropriated.  Put simply, the amount needed for GPOI seems a small price to pay for a program that directly benefits U.S. national security and relieves burdens on U.S. forces.  

Whatever the reason for the opposition, U.S. foreign policy goals are being short-circuited.  The President has clearly stated that failed and failing states pose a serious national security risk to the U.S.  GPOI can play a critical role in addressing the capacity gaps that prevent the U.S. from effectively and successfully dealing with failed states.

The U.S. military is sorely overstretched with Iraq and Afghanistan.  The African Union is trying to halt genocide in Darfur and put Somalia back together.  The UN is busy everywhere.  The Italians, meanwhile, have gone ahead and set up the Center of Excellence for stability police units, and are awaiting the promised support funding from the U.S.

Therefore, Refugees International recommends that:

• President Bush makes the calls that are needed to break the logjam. GPOI enjoys bipartisan support from Congress, and the support of the oft-feuding Departments of State and Defense.  The President should ask Congress to support GPOI.