|
Home |
|
Appendix A: Opening Remarks
Lieutenant General Dashzeveg, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: On the behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Mongolia, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and men and women of the Armed Forces, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all participants of the North East Asia Peace Operations Seminar-Game. It is my pleasure to express our appreciation and gratitude to the UN Department of the Peacekeeping Operations, US Pacific Command, and Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance for organizing this international event in Mongolia. In this era of globalization, there are no borders for regional security and stability. No single country can live free of threats of terrorism. In this situation, it is responsibility for every country to contribute in building and strengthening peace and stability of the world. The Government of Mongolia made a crucial political decision to take an active part in international peacekeeping operations by signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations on 26 September 1999 in order to contribute to the UN Standby Arrangements. From that date, the Government of Mongolia is pursuing all appropriate measures to develop the peacekeeping capacity of the Armed Forces of Mongolia. In the framework of these measures, as a result of organizing joint peacekeeping seminars and field training for officers and non-commissioned officers, sending them to international peacekeeping training centers, and increasing the number of instructors, the Armed Forces of Mongolia trained its first group of military observers and a small contingent for their deployment to the real-world peacekeeping missions. Moreover, for the first time, one platoon successfully participated in the international peacekeeping field exercise, CentreAsBat-2002, in Kazakhstan and we are pleased with the evaluations of the platoon made by international experts. The State Great Hural, the parliament of Mongolia, passed the Law on Mongolian military and police personnel participation in the UN Peacekeeping and international missions. This law set up the domestic legal basis for military personnel to participate in peacekeeping operations. Therefore, this international peace operations seminar-game creates opportunity for countries like Mongolia, who has desire to contribute in maintaining to peace and stability of the world, to broaden their participation, raise their spirits and strengthen ways of cooperating. We are happy to hear that UN and foreign military and police experts and specialists, who have invaluable expertise in the field of the international peacekeeping, are facilitating this seminar-game and we are sure that we will learn a lot from all of you. It is my pleasure and honor to welcome international peacekeeping experts from the Asia-Pacific Region as well as our neighbors. Here I would like to emphasize that in addition to our contribution of military observers and contingent to the UN peacekeeping missions, her geo-strategic key location in the North East Asia, Mongolia has more to offer for the strengthening peace and stability of the region. In this regard, we ask the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to consider our proposal of establishing a regional peacekeeping training center in Mongolia. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to wish you all success to participate successfully in the seminar-game and to build close friendships. Thank you.
Major General (ret) Franklin E. van Kappen Lieutenant General Dashzeveg, your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow officers: I have been asked to say a few words at the opening of this seminar game, on behalf of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and of course, I am very happy to oblige. At the same time, I have to bring to your attention that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York unfortunately could not spare anybody to attend this seminar game. You have to realize that this is a hard-pressed department, and they really have to have all hands on deck to meet the challenges of today. But let me assure you that I spoke to General Ford shortly before this conference, and that this conference has not only his whole-hearted support, but it also has the support of the whole Department of Peacekeeping Operations. So therefore, on behalf of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, I would like to thank the Republic of Mongolia for co-hosting this conference, and also the United States Pacific Command for co-hosting this seminar. It is extremely important, and let me explain why. As General Dashzeveg has said during his speech, in this era of globalization, threats to international peace and security, and threats to the international rule of law, concern us all. The international security environment, as we all know, is changing rapidly. And the military of this world have to adapt to that change. So therefore, peace support operations, which include peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations, have become very important tasks for the different militaries in the world. But let me stress the fact that peace support operations are highly complicated and you really need to train to get the feeling for what it is all about, the gist of it is. The most important factor to remember is, that if, as a nation, you decide to participate in peace support operation, you are putting your soldiers into a highly complicated operational, political, and judicial environment. It is operationally complex, not only because you have to conduct expeditionary operations far away from your home base, in close concert with military from other nations, but it is operationally complex because it is a multifaceted operation. The military part is only a small part of it, so therefore you also have to operate in close harmony, shoulder to shoulder, with the humanitarian community of the world, the NGOs and the IGOs and I can assure you, it is a complicated affair. It is politically complex, not only because you have to execute a mandate provided by the Security Council, but you have to realize that this mandate is basically a reflection of concerted political will in the Security Council. It is politically complex because you have to work within the confines of this mandate. Another factor is that the judicial environment is far more complex than most of us realize. You not only have to deal with the international rules of armed combat, but you have to work within the wider context of international lawÉthe additional protocols of Geneva, humanitarian law, and don't forget also your national law. So I say it again, you put your soldiers into an environment that is not only operational, but political and judicial: a complicated affair, During this seminar we hope to expose you to this complex web. We hope that the better you struggle with the issues, the better you will get a feel for, and an understanding, for what it is all about. It is not the easiest way to do it, but you have to remember, the right way is always hard, and the easy way is always mined. So, I think we will have a good seminar game, and I hope that you will learn a lot, but I also hope that we will learn from you, because it's a two-way street. Thank you very much for your attention.
|