 can take on the routine guarding tasks where the likelihood is of little combat but the need is for the greatest restraint.
Had the UN spent more cash on such guards in Iraq, then perhaps it would not have had its headquarters in Iraq destroyed in August 2003 and lost its special representative, the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello who was killed in the attack. Indeed, Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, admits to having considered using PMSCs in Rwanda in 1997 in order to get something on the ground quickly to save lives. Sadly for many thousands of Rwandans, he did not.
Which brings me to my point. The armies of the world and the United Nations are too slow and too self-obsessed to move quickly. Worse, some governments in the Third World see service with the UN as no more than a money-making scam. In a few cases, they even use the UN as a tool to control poverty and, in turn, their populations.
The UN Department of Peacekeeping spends a staggering $14bn annually in Africa
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| The poorest have lost faith in the UN and the answer is: take governments out of the equation |
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alone on military operations, mostly on schemes with African governments. For that huge amount nothing gets any much worse but nothing gets better. (Now that's a scandal worthy of an investigation by War on Want.)
The time is ripe for reform of the UN - to include the establishment of a reaction taskforce that would be commercially raised, but regulated and accountable.
The poorest have lost faith in the UN - and the answer is: take governments out of the equation. Out of 140-plus nations in the UN, only 12 make a net contribution. Confidence could be restored by these 12 nations driving through a new regime whereby a majority Security Council vote could deploy the new taskforce to impose the UN's will in trouble spots at short notice. It would be appropriate for low- to medium-scale operations - including Darfur, for instance - while anything bigger would require the assistance of national contingents on a voluntary basis as now.
The UN would pay for this brigade-sized  |
