The concept is simple: just as the
local community needs law enforcement to
"guarantee the safety of its citizens," so
too must the global village possess an
"adequate" means to do the same. This
ability to "enforce world peace" has been a
long-standing dream of the international community.
President Theodore Roosevelt, in his 1910 Nobel Peace
Prize acceptance speech called for a world league to
ensure peace "by force if necessary." In
1948, Trygve Lie, the United Nations first
Secretary-General, proposed the creation of a
"small guard force…recruited by the
Secretary-General and placed at the disposal of the
Security Council." A similar "Peace
Force" proposal was made by Secretary-General U
Thant in 1963. Indeed, the concept has rolled around
for quite some time.
While the idea of a UN military
force is not new, it is receiving renewed interest at
both federal and international levels. Serious
propositions have recently been tabled in Congress.
What is more, a UN military force under the acronym of
SHIRBRIG is already in existence – America just
doesn’t know it, yet.
On the national level, Congressman
James P. McGovern (D-MA) has initiated House
Resolution 4453 — The McGovern-Porter United
Nations Rapid Deployment Police and Security Force Act
of 2000. This legislation calls for the creation
of a military force under the command and control of
the United Nations Security Council. This force would
be rapidly deployable and act as a
"vanguard" unit – being the first troops
sent to "contain conflict and stabilize the
political situation, while giving regular peacekeeping
units from member nations sufficient time to
deploy."
In an attempt to overcome the
political obstacles of US military involvement within
UN operations, the McGovern act makes it clear that no
American troops would serve in the UN Rapid Deployment
Force. In fact, UNRDF wouldn’t be staffed by troops
from any country – hence no national troop
casualties would be incurred. Instead, to fill its
ranks, 6000 "international volunteers [would be]
employed directly by the U.N." This force would
be "trained as a single unit, appropriately
equipped, expressly for international peace operations
including civilian policing" [emphasis
mine]. The UNRDF would be, in reality, a United
Nations mercenary unit – an international private
army.
At this point H.R.4453 has been
co-sponsored by 25 members of Congress, including
numerous Republicans. It has been referred to the
House International Relations Committee and the
Subcommittee on International Operations and Human
Rights.
Of particular significance, the
World Federalist Association (WFA) and its sister
organization, the Campaign for UN Reform (CUNR), have
taken up the cause of promoting H.R.4453. The WFA is
the largest "open" world government
organization in the US, working closely with its
international counterpart, the World Federalist
Movement (WFM). All three bodies directly pursue
empowering the United Nations towards the ultimate
goal of world government. The "success" of
the World Federalists within the global political
arena is cause for concern. Unknown to most, the
International Criminal Court is one of their success
stories, with the WFM playing the central role in its
creation. The WFM also played a key role in the recent
United Nations Millennium Forum, and its American
affiliate, the WFA, heavily influenced this event. It
was at this UN Forum that a CUNR summary of H.R.4453
was circulated. McGovern, whether he realizes it or
not, has the backing of a very influential group of
world government supporters who understand the full
implications of a UN standing army.
But while H.R.4453 is of grave
concern, it pales in comparison to SHIRBRIG.
On December 15, 1996, the Ministers
of Defense for Austria, Canada, Denmark, The
Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden signed a Letter
of Intent, thereby creating the Stand-by Forces
High Readiness Brigade (SHIRBRIG). Much more than a
concept or piece of legislation – such as H.R.4453
– SHIRBRIG is a physical reality and has an
operational headquarters at Hoevelte, approximately 20
kilometers north of Copenhagen.
The history of SHIRBRIG can readily
be traced throughout the 1990’s. In 1992 UN
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali penned his Agenda
for Peace, which called for a fresh look at
creating a common security system. In response to the
Secretary-General’s request, the Canadian Senate
released its report on peacekeeping the following year
and stated that a "permanent force – or standing
UN army – would serve either as a deterrent or
to meet threats posed by a ‘military force of a
lesser order’" [bold in original]. By 1995 two
major reports, Towards A Rapid Reaction Capability
For The United Nations, and Report by the
Working Group on a Multinational United Nations
Stand-by Forces High Readiness Brigade, were
released by the Canadian and Danish federal
governments, respectively.
Canada, in developing their report,
appointed a committee of international specialists,
including members of the Ford Foundation, the Council
on Foreign Relations, various ambassadors, special
advisors, and a host of political and military
personalities. The result; recommendations that
included the establishment of a "permanent UN
operational-level headquarters," a Rapid Reaction
military unit under the direction of the
Secretary-General, international troop training
standards, a "permanent standing UN police
force," regionally based operational
headquarters, advanced intelligence and surveillance
capabilities, and an eventual United Nations Standing
Emergency Group – in essence, a "standing
army."
The Danish proposals were more
tightly focused on the legal and technical structures
necessary to achieve a UN Rapid Reaction military
regime. It recommended that Member States form an
affiliation under the present UN Stand-by Agreement,
resulting in the creation of a UN High Readiness
Brigade. According to the Danish report, this force
would come under the direct authority of the Security
Council and would be "available for use world
wide."
As a result of both reports and the
efforts of supporting nations, SHIRBRIG was officially
established. On September 2, 1997, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan inaugurated its Planning
Element, which would develop operating procedures,
conduct operational and logistic training, and support
the UN with tactical mission planning. At this point
contributing countries – those who signed the Letter
of Intent – are preparing troops for placement
in SHIRBRIG. Once completely operational, SHIRBRIG
will be, in essence, a United Nations "swat
force" embodying the vanguard concept.
Although the US has not endorsed
the Stand-by Forces High Readiness Brigade, global
political will has been staging itself to take
advantage of any favorable change within US/UN
relations. The Canadian report made it clear that
current political conditions "are not
immutable" and recommended "seeking to
engage the debate on what may be desirable in the
longer term." As Michael Oliver, president of the
United Nations Association of Canada said in a 1995
interview regarding UN military empowerment,
"When there’s a shift in the U.S., we’ll be
ready." V
__________________________
Carl Teichrib is the
research associate with Hope for the World (http://www.garykah.org/)
and has attended many of the UN meetings that are
dealing with the effort to achieve global governance.
