The Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative Act

Scarcely did the Group of Eight announce its decision to create a global peacekeeping force but Congress was already in full swing to fulfill its end of this U.N. agenda.

Introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Chair Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) on June 9 was S. 2514, The Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative Act, allowing for “the transfer of funds for foreign countries to participate in international peacekeeping or peace enforcement operations.”

Coincidentally, June 9 is also the day reports floated from Sea Island, Ga., that the meeting Group of Eight — the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Russia and Italy — set plans to create a 50,000-plus group of global peacekeepers by 2010. This plan comes with a hefty price tag; Americans will provide $660 million over the next five years for training and equipment.

Senior administration officials briefing reporters at the scene of the G-8 summit said justification for this global force stems primarily from Africa, where tribal conflicts have raged for years. But “even though it’s about Africa in the first instance,” this official said, “it really is global in its ultimate scope, because the idea is to train peacekeepers and equip them and enable them to get where they’re needed all over the world