"Clancy, Tom - Op-Center 06 - State of Siege - with Steve Pieczenik" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clancy Tom)

Lieutenant Reynold Downer of the Ilthst28th
Battalion, the Royal Western Australia
Regiment, learned that there were three conditions that had
to be met before a United Nations peace-keeping
operation could be sent to any nation. It wasn't something
he'd ever wondered about or wanted to be a part of, but
the Commonwealth of Australia felt differently.
First, the fifteen member nations of the UN
Security Council had to approve the operation and
its parameters in detail. Second, since the
United Nations does not have an army, member nations
of the General Assembly had to agree to contribute
troops as well as a force commander, who was put in
charge of deployment and execution of the multinational
army. Third, the warring nations had to consent to the
presence of the PKO.
Once there, the peacekeepers had three goals.
The first was to establish and enforce a cease-fire while
the warring parties sought peaceful solutions. The
second was to create a buffer zone between the hostile
factions. And the third was to maintain the peace. This
included mil itary action when necessary, de-mining the
terrain so civilians could return to homes and
to food and water supplies, and also providing
humanitarian assistance.
All of that was carefully explained to the light
infantry troops during two weeks of training at
Irwin Barracks, Stubbs Terrace,
Karrakatta. Two weeks that consisted of learning
local customs, politics, language, water
purification, and how to drive slowly, with one eye
on the dirt roads, so you didn't run over a
mine. Also learning not to blush when you caught a
glimpse of yourself in a powder blue beret and matching
ascot.
When the UN indoctrination was done-"the gelding,"
as his commanding officer quite accurately described it--the
Australian contingent was spread among the
eighty-six cantonment sites in Cambodia.
Australia's own Lieutenant General John
M. Sanderson was force commander of the entire
UNTAC operation, which lasted from March 1992
to September 1993.
The UNTAC mission was carefully designed
to avoid armed conflict. UN soldiers weren't
supposed to shoot unless fired upon, and only then
without escalating the hostilities. The deaths of any
enlisted personnel were to be investigated by the local
police, not by the military. Human rights were to be
encouraged through education, not force. Apart from serving as a