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| November 5, 1998 |
| November 5, 1998 |
UN Raises Age Minimum for Troops
In a major step for children's rights and against the use of child soldiers, the United Nations announced this week that it was barring the use of troops under 18 in official UN peacekeeping and military operations.
The new UN policy was announced by Bernard Miyet, UN Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping in the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly. Miyet described the policy as one in which governments would be asked not to send military observers and civilian police younger than 25. Furthermore, other types of peacekeeping troops should preferably be 21, but definitely not younger than 18.
The policy effects the 17 peacekeeping operations being conducted by the United Nations today, which involve a total of 14,000 troops, military observers, and police from 76 countries. In the past 50 years, over 750,000 military personnel and civilian policy have served in UN peacekeeping operations, according to Reuters reports.
The UN policy is not a response to any situation involving the use of child soldiers, but was rather an opportunity for the UN to take the lead on an important international issue. "While we have no indication that member governments have provided the United Nations with soldiers under the age of 18, this policy has been adopted as a proactive measure, and to ensure that the Organization's use of uniformed personnel is an example for police and military forces worldwide," according to Miyet.
The current international standard regarding the use of child soldiers stems from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention allows the recruitment and use of children as young as 15 in conflict. However, there is a growing international movement to raise the age to 18. A working group has drafted a text, an Optional Protocol to the Convention, that would raise the age to 18. The United States, which is not even eligible to join the protocol because it has not yet ratified the UN Convention, is blocking the progress of the working group. Other international advances include the UN Security Council issuing a presidential statement in June 1998 condemning the targeting of children in armed conflict, and a July 1998 treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), which gives the court authority to prosecute the conscription and use of children in conflict under the age of 15 as a war crime.
Olara Otunnu, the Secretary-General's Special Representative on Children and armed conflict praised the UN's decision. "It will strengthen our current efforts to promote better protection for the most vulnerable sections of the population in peacekeeping operations. This will also help us in the campaign to raise the age limit for the recruitment and participation of young people in hostilities."
United Nations estimates reveal that approximately 300,000 children under 18 are serving as combatants in conflicts around the world, and two million children have been killed in conflicts since 1987.
In a report issued last month, Otunnu said "most cynically, children have been compelled to become instruments of war, recruited or kidnaped to become child soldiers, thus forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults."
For more information about the US Campaign to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, please email rstohl@cdi.org
-- Research Analyst Rachel Stohl, rstohl@cdi.org
Military Leadership Faces Growing Concerns About "Quality of Life."
During September's congressional testimony by members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the readiness of U.S. military forces, substantial attention was paid to "Quality of Life" issues. While many Americans assume that "readiness problems" refer to shortcomings in training, material and parts, the military has long know that benefits such as housing, health care, and child support, along with pay and retirement plans, are critical in both recruitment and retention of quality personnel and the day to day readiness of U.S. forces. While these issues are not new, in recent years funding for such benefits has taken a back seat to efforts by DoD and Congress to increase spending for weapons modernization and procurement.
An Associated Press report this week cited a Pentagon study allegedly responding to a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles done by the "Dayton Daily News," which detailed problems with the military's medical care system. Among other problems, the series identified differences between military doctors and their civilian counterparts with regard to medical malpractice. According to the "Daily News," doctors in the military health care system are not required to have malpractice insurance, do not have to be licensed in every state where they practice, and are virtually immune to patient lawsuits.
While the Pentagon's Office of Public Affairs indicated that the AP story erroneously referred to a study which did not exist, DoD officials acknowledge that they are well aware of the issues raised in the "Daily News" series, and steps either have been taken to address many of them, or are underway. The problem with state licensing, for example, was identified in the early 1980's, and according to DoD officials familiar with the military health care system, doctors have been required since 1988 to obtain a state license that is "current, valid and unrestricted." While acknowledging that military doctors do not need to be licensed in every state in which they practice, DoD points out that "mobility is a factor of military service for both providers and patients."
Health care is just one area where the Pentagon has recognized shortfalls in the quality of benefits for military personnel and their dependents. Serious problems exist in military housing. According to the Defense Department, 200,000 of the 300,000 housing units operated by the U.S. military for personnel "may be substandard, in need of repair or replacement." Many of the units are contaminated by lead paint, which is of particular concern to families with young children, and who most often are those least able to afford their own housing.
Also of concern is child care. According to a 1995 report by the Congressional Research Service DoD is only meeting 52% of its child care needs. But while the Pentagon requested 10% more for child care in FY'99 and says it is expanding it's child care programs in an orderly manner, DoD opposed an amendment by Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) to the FY'99 Defense Authorizations bill which would have shifted $270 million over five years to its Child Development Program. The amendment was defeated 18-74.
Another issue which came up during the Senate hearings was that of inequities in the current retirement benefits program. Prior to 1986, military personnel who left the service after 20 years received pension benefits equal to 50% of their salary. For personnel entering service after 1986, pension benefits were reduced to 40%, in an effort to encourage them to stay in the service for 30 years, at which point the benefit reaches 75%. The plan had the opposite effect, however, causing more mid-career personnel to leave the military. According to DoD and the Congressional Budget Office, efforts to increase retirement benefits for service personnel who enlisted after 1986 to 50% will cost $1.6 billion annually.
In addition to correcting this inequity, the military should also look at ways to expand the options available to military personnel in preparing for retirement. For example, earlier this year, out-going Navy Secretary John Dalton observed that he was asked about economic issues each time he met with sailors. He says they want something like a 401(k) retirement account to help them plan for the future.
The current strength of the U.S. economy has also made pay an important issue. Some experts believe that the pay gap between the Pentagon's military and civilian employees and the private sector may be as high as 13.5%. According to the office of the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, the annual cost to bridge this gap is $6.2 billion for uniformed personnel, and a further $10.5 billion for civilian military personnel. All told, addressing this issue could cost $177 billion in new spending over the next six years, increases of nearly $30 billion annually.
U.S. military and political leaders have consistently acknowledged that ultimately the basis of an effective fighting force is its people. This is even more true today with an all-volunteer force. Hopefully, the leadership will fit deeds to these words as they consider future military spending priorities.
-- Senior Research Analyst Chris Hellman, chellman@cdi.org
NATO Drawn Ever Deeper in the Balkans
NATO plans to station a Rapid Reaction Force in Macedonia, on the border of the beleaguered province of Kosovo. According to NATO sources, no U.S. troops are slated to take part in the possible Macedonia-based force, which would be responsible for evacuating international observers out of Kosovo in case of a crisis.
The October 16 agreement between the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Yugoslav authorities opened the door for 2,000 unarmed international observers to monitor the situation in Kosovo. Many governments represented in the OSCE, however, raised concerns about the safety of their nationals in Kosovo. During the Bosnia war, U.N. personnel were taken hostage in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent NATO air strikes.
NATO responded by agreeing, in principle, to form a 1,500 person Rapid Reaction Force with the sole task of extracting OSCE verifiers from Kosovo in case of emergency. The force would be based in or near Macedonia's capital of Skopje, a mere 10 miles from the Kosovo border. In case of a threat to OSCE personnel, NATO would evacuate the observers in helicopters and by cars. Alliance officials say that NATO troops should be able to deploy in Kosovo in less than an hour.
Alliance officials say that no U.S. troops are expected to take part in the Rapid Reaction Force. France proposed to command the units, and will contribute the bulk of the troops. Some plans envision half the troops coming from France, others call for France, Germany, and Great Britain to contribute 450 troops each, with Holland supplying the remaining 150.
Although it may not participate in the NATO force directly, the United States keeps 2,200 Marines and 29 helicopters on board of USS Saipan, which is currently on station in the Adriatic Sea. The Marines could also be used to evacuate OSCE personnel.
The decision to create the Rapid Reaction Force will not be official until a meeting next Wednesday of the North Atlantic Committee, the alliance's top decision-making body. The plan also hinges on the approval from Macedonian authorities. Leaders of the center-right coalition which won last weekend's parliamentary elections in Macedonia say they are "against Macedonian territory being used for any kind of hostile activity against any of the neighboring countries." The winners of the elections may not act on the proposed NATO force until they form a government, the deadline for which is November 20. There will be pressure on the new government from NATO to moderate their stance as Macedonia would like to join the alliance in the next round of expansion.
If created, the base in Macedonia would join the growing list of NATO bases in Eastern Europe. NATO nations maintains a number of bases in Bosnia, under the auspices of the SFOR contingent in Bosnia. The U.S. airbase in Tuzla touts itself as "the busiest airfield in the Balkans." The U.S. Air Force also set up a base in Taszar, Hungary, which provides airlift support and staging ground for reconnaissance flights over Bosnia and, if necessary, Kosovo.
None of these facilities were intended to be permanent. But as the Implementation Force (IFOR) became the Stabilization Force (SFOR), whic hitself has already had its mandate extended indefinitely, the United States and NATO seem set to remain in Eastern Europe for the long run. The Tuzla base, for instance, recently built new dining and living facilities for soldiers deployed there in the future.
NATO plans to stay in Macedonia for a year but reserved the right to extend the mandate. Already, the alliance officials admit that "there is no indication that [the fate of the] Macedonia base will be any different than [those in] Bosnia." The United States built Tuzla with the intention of using it for one year, but is now in its fourth year and counting.
To complicate matters further, the decision to close the Macedonian base will not be entirely in NATO's hands. As the force will be deployed in support of OSCE personnel in Kosovo, the units will have to remain in Macedonia as long as the OSCE stays in Kosovo. "As long as the OSCE decides to stay in Kosovo there needs to be an extraction force. The [NATO troops] will not leave one day before the [OSCE] verifiers," said the NATO official.
The NATO bases may also constitute a violation of a 1997 U.S. - Russian agreement on NATO's role in Central and Eastern Europe. When the United States sought to win Russia's approval for NATO expansion, it promised to refrain from permanently stationing NATO troops on the territory of the new NATO nations. Of the three Eastern European countries currently hosting or expected to house NATO bases, only Hungary will be a NATO member in the near future. Macedonia is also a candidate, while Bosnia may apply in the future. NATO bases are, in effect, preceding alliance membership. Such an approach may be "legally accurate" but represents, at the least, a violation of the spirit of the NATO - Russia agreement.
-- Research Analyst Tomas Valasek, tvalasek@cdi.org
This week on America's Defense Monitor -- "The Human Cost of America's
Arms Trade"
Show #1209
Length: 30 minutes
Air Date in Washington, DC: 11/8/98
Air Date in New York: 10/14/98
For air dates in other cities, check your local listings.
Synopsis: The U.S. is still the world's number-one arms dealer. And most
client countries have bad records on human rights. Governments in
Indonesia, Colombia, and Turkey rely on military weaponry rather than
genuine political reform to remain in power.
Key Interviewees:
Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate
Colombian Human Rights Activists Carlos Rodriguez Mejia and Gloria Galindez,
recipients of the 1998 Letellier-Moffitt Human Rights Award
Cost: $19
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