The Clinton administration, usually skittish about approving large peacekeeping operations because of opposition in Congress, is backing the highest number this time.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Mr. Gregg explained that he was blocking the peacekeeping money because of his strong objections to a peace accord signed between the combatants in Sierra Leone, which gave amnesty and a share of power to rebels who have killed and mutilated thousands of people.
Mr. Kagame urged timely international action in Congo after a year of fruitless debate in the United Nations Security Council, which has been unwilling or unable to send even a small peacekeeping force because of the continued warfare and the elder Kabila's refusal to allow political dialogue.
As it stands, the U.S. is the world's largest financial contributor to peacekeeping -- because of bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and leadership from the executive branch -- and full payment of our dues is absolutely critical to the enterprise.
Prior to the deployment, South African authorities threatened to veto the involvement of Australian peacekeeping troops because of doubts about their impartiality.
Because the military personnel are regularly involved in outside peacekeeping operations and other internal peacekeeping duties, and because of military policy to not disclose to outsiders the actual number of soldiers living in the cantonment at any point for security purposes, it was not possible at the planning stage to know the actual number of people who would make up the subsample.
They were initially protected at the school by a Belgian-led peacekeeping force that, because of United Nations equivocation, was ultimately to be rendered helpless to prevent their murder.
Assistant Secretary General Hedi Annabi, the deputy director of peacekeeping, said that because of Security Council instructions, officers will be on active patrol for the first time in Kosovo and East Timor, and in Kosovo will be armed.
The Chadian troops had been in the country as part of an African Union peacekeeping force, but — because of their evident partiality to Muslim elements in CAR and penchant for violence — they were withdrawn.
Russia expressed concerns that the United Nations blue helmets, as the peacekeeping soldiers are known because of their distinctive headgear, are moving away from their traditional role of monitoring cease-fires to more aggressive tasks.
