Gingrich-Mitchell Task Force Hits Hard on Need to Reform U.N. Handling of Terrorism and WMD Issues

By Victor Comras

The Gingrich-Mitchell Task Force looked closely at the operations of the United Nations from a US interest perspective and concluded, as other international panels before it, that the United Nations response to the three most important challenges to international peace and security �internal state violence including mass murder and genocide, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and the spread of international terrorism -- is wanting. The UN System, the report finds, �clearly has significant shortcomings as a tool for fighting catastrophic terrorism and the proliferation of WMD�and reducing those shortcomings could pay real dividends for U.S. and international security.�

Much of the blame must fall on the members themselves, the Task Force Report says, and on the way they interact within the UN Framework. But, blame must also be attributable to the institution itself. A principle fault underlying the UN�s weak performance is the absence of the means and the will to enforce compliance with international standards and UN resolutions. This is particularly the case, the Report says, when it comes to preventing the proliferation of WMD and in dealing with terrorism. The 1267, 1373, and 1540 Committees, the Report says, now rely solely on the power of persuasion and the incentive provided by offers to assist states in building their counterproliferation and counterterrorism capacities. �So far, even mild measures, such as �naming and shaming,� are widely seen as inconsistent with what most members believe should be the committees� cooperative, consensual mode of operating." The result, the report concludes, is a growing number of countries in violation of their commitments. To deal with this problem the Gingrich-Mitchell group recommends that the US press hard, within the Security Council, for the adoption of �naming and shaming� authority. �The United States should promote the �naming of names��that is, the United States should push the Security Council to have the 1373 Committee publicly list state sponsors of terror. It should also list those countries failing to make adequate efforts to stanch terrorism emanating from their soil and/or to share information they may possess about terrorist organizations and individuals.� When it comes to preventing WMD from falling into the hands of terrorist, the Security Council should develop, the Report says, a �menu of penalties� that could be considered in cases of violations.

Lack of appropriately assigned expertise and resources, according to the Report, has also seriously hampered the UN�s ability to carry out its responsibilities. The 1540 Terrorism and WMD Committee, for example, has only seven experts charged with reviewing reports from over 188 countries. Its two-year mandate is about to expire with little real accomplishment. Similarly the CTC and CTED remain virtually unstaffed and unable to carry out the mandate they have been provided. �The role of the CTC as an international �hub� for coordination and cooperation, envisaged in the March 2003 meeting, was never realized. Instead of the sense of urgency that existed in 2001�02, there is a lack of attention by the
council and bureaucratic inertia and opposition by the Secretariat.� What's needed, the Task Force says, is a rationalization of the work load and resources. �The United States should take the lead in the Council to rationalize the work of the three Security Council committees responsible for terrorism and proliferation .... Although each committee has a distinct mandate, the functions of the three overlap significantly. {This makes it} more difficult and time-consuming for the council to manage them effectively and harder to staff them properly. Among the solutions that should be explored are mandating closer coordination among the committees (including reducing unnecessary duplication in member states� reports), combining their staffs, and combining the committees themselves....The council should also mandate a study on the advisability of setting up within the UN system an agency devoted to leading the work of the United Nations against terrorism, with a special emphasis on WMD terrorism.�

The Gingrich-Michell Task Force brings a bi-partisan view to bear on UN Reform. Hopefully, its recommendations, particularly when it comes to treating terrorism and WMD proliferation, will resound loudly with the Bush Administration, the Congress, and with the United Nations itself.

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