U.N. chief unhappy that U.S. forces aren't in Sierra Leone

May 13, 2000
Web posted at: 10:31 p.m. EDT (0231 GMT)

In this story: Clinton cautious after Somalia U.S. sees local peacekeepers as more effective RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As fighting continues between U.N. peacekeepers and rebel forces in Sierra Leone, the refusal by the United States to send troops has angered the head of the United Nations.

The comments by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, made in The New York Times, have raised questions about the U.S. strategy to rely on peacekeepers from countries near the area of conflict as an armed international presence.

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U.S. President Bill Clinton on Thursday asked Rev. Jesse Jackson to lead administration efforts to revive the peace agreement reached last summer between the Sierra Leone government and the Revolutionary United Front.

Jackson has acted in a diplomatic role previously, including helping win support for the 1999 peace deal in Sierra Leone.

But the United States will not send combat troops to join the estimated 9,000 U.N. troops in Sierra Leone to enforce last July's Lome peace accord, which brought to an end the brutal eight-year war in the West African nation.

Annan said the U.N. force could use additional military help from the United States, but added, "Washington will not put an American officer on the ground."

U.N. Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari was more blunt in his assessment. "It is very clear that peacekeeping anywhere in the Third World, they don't want to send ground troops at all."

Ernest Wilson, of the University of Maryland, believes the Clinton administration is still scarred by events in a previous engagement in Africa -- Somalia.

It was there in October 1993 that U.S. soldiers under the U.N. banner came under fire in Mogadishu from Somali men, women and children armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.

Eighteen soldiers were killed and 84 were wounded. The image of a dead U.S. soldier being dragged through the streets was broadcast on U.S. television screens and carried by newspapers and magazines.

"I think that the United States is still suffering from the post-Somali syndrome," said Wilson, "where you saw these terrible images on the screen."

The U.N. force in Somalia shifted from peacekeeping to peacemaking and U.S. officials say they learned from that involvement -- that peacekeeping forces led by countries in the region may be more effective.

That is what the White House is pushing in Sierra Leone and in other African nations on the brink of war, such as the Congo.

It is the same approach the administration took last year in East Timor, where an Australian-led force went in to restore order after violence erupted when East Timor declared independence from Indonesia.

But in places such as Sierra Leone, some experts say peacekeepers are not the long-term answer.

Some international observers say the real focus for U.S. and U.N. officials should be on building the institutions for peace.

"If you look at it as a company which has gone bankrupt, you place that company in receivership," said George Ayittey of the American University. "I think politically what needs to be done in Sierra Leone is to place it under U.N. trusteeship."

The White House has notified Congress that a small number of U.S. military personnel -- providing support to U.N. forces in Sierra Leone -- could be drawn into the fighting.

That does not sit well with lawmakers, who recently expressed their concerns about the use of ground troops in another part of the world -- Kosovo.

The U.N. force in Sierra Leone has been building up since November to replaced a West African intervention force that defended the government during the civil war. When it reaches its full strength of 11,100, it will be the largest U.N. peacekeeping force in the world.

One of the primary tasks of the U.N. peacekeepers is to supervise the disarmament of an estimated 45,000 fighters ahead of elections planned for early 2001.

Correspondent Kelly Wallace contributed to this report.

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  • Sierra Leone 1999: Getting Away with Murder
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