Peacekeeping and Related Stability Operations: Issues of U.S. Military Involvement [Updated March 10, 2005]   [open pdf - 99KB]

"For over a decade, some Members of Congress have expressed reservations about - U.S. military involvement in peacekeeping. The Bush Administration's decision to reduce the commitment of U.S. troops to international peacekeeping seems to reflect a major concern: that peacekeeping duties are detrimental to military 'readiness,' i.e., the ability of U.S. troops to defend the nation. Others, however, view peacekeeping and related stability operations as a necessary feature of the United States' current and possible future U.S. military activities. With the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, often referred to as a 'stabilization and reconstruction' operation (which manifests some characteristics of a peace operation), concerns about whether U.S. forces are large enough and appropriately configured to carry out that operation over several years dominate that debate. These concerns were heightened by the 9/11 Commission report, which cited Afghanistan, where the Administration has limited U.S. involvement in peacekeeping and nation-building, as a sanctuary for terrorists and pointed to the dangers of allowing actual and potential terrorist sanctuaries to exist."