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President Bush has allowed United States troops to be placed under United Nations command in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. This move violates campaign promises not to place United States troops under United Nations command and the 2000 Republican platform prohibiting such action, as well as conflicts with the written constitution of The United States.
USA Daily first learned of this event when a link to the following was emailed to us. Chris Kincaid president of America’s Survival, Inc. details in a letter entitled Bush Places U.S. Troops Under United Nations Command some startling facts. Kincaid writes:
“The United States Military Observer Group in the Pentagon confirms that U.S. soldiers wear U.N. blue berets and U.N. shoulder patches as members of UNOMIG – the United Nations Observer Mission in the country of Georgia. Soldiers ordered assigned to this mission wear this U.N. uniform. What’s more, they receive a United Nations physical examination before deployment to the mission and the U.N. pays some expenses associated with it.”
United Nations Mission In Georgia facts and figures page UNOMIG FACTS AND FIGURES States that the Chief Military Observer is a Major-General Kazi Ashfaq Ahmed (Bangladesh). Also listed on the UNMIG facts page is that the head of the mission is Ms. Heidi Tagliavini (Switzerland) (S/2002/643), (S/2002/644) According to the UNMIG fact sheet there are 107 military observers; UNOMIG also includes 90 international civilian personnel and 175 local civilian staff The following is a listing of nations contributing troops:
Albania, Austria, Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay.
The mission dating from 1993 to present has been appropriated over 33 million dollars through June 2003. The purpose of the mission contained in the UNOMIG MANDATE is detailed as follows:
- To monitor and verify the implementation by the parties of the Agreement on a Ceasefire and Separation of Forces signed in Moscow on 14 May 1994;
- To observe the operation of the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) within the framework of the implementation of the Agreement;
- To verify, through observation and patrolling, that troops of the parties do not remain in or re-enter the security zone and that heavy military equipment does not remain or is not reintroduced in the security zone or the restricted weapons zone;
- To monitor the storage areas for heavy military equipment withdrawn from the security zone and the restricted weapons zone in cooperation with the CIS peacekeeping force as appropriate;
- To monitor the withdrawal of troops of the Republic of Georgia from the Kodori Valley to places beyond the boundaries of Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia;
- To patrol regularly the Kodori Valley;
- To investigate, at the request of either party or the CIS peacekeeping force or on its own initiative, reported or alleged violations of the Agreement and to attempt to resolve or contribute to the resolution of such incidents;
- To report regularly to the Secretary-General within its mandate, in particular on the implementation of the Agreement, any violations and their investigation by UNOMIG, as well as other relevant developments;
- To maintain close contacts with both parties to the conflict and to cooperate with the CIS peacekeeping force and, by its presence in the area, to contribute to conditions conducive to the safe and orderly return of refugees and displaced persons.
President Bush and fellow Republicans had criticized former president Clinton for placing United States military personnel under the command of the United Nations on similar missions.
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