A chara, – There are many areas where humanitarian operations can be enhanced through civilian cooperation with military forces and the current actions in the Mediterranean are a case in point.
However, the universal principles of humanitarianism are neutrality, impartiality, humanity and operational independence and while the latter two could reasonably be claimed by military forces, they could never claim to be either neutral or impartial, even in a humanitarian context.
There is no way that any international NGO could match the resources available to the army or navy and while such resources are paid for by tax payers, the operations they undertake have completely different military roles to that of civilian organisations.
The infamous remarks by former four-star US general Colin Powell to an international conference of NGOs in 2001 that he was “serious about making sure we have the best relationship with the NGOs who are such a force multiplier for us, such an important part of our combat team” were very telling then and now.Those remarks unfortunately betrayed the different mentalities that inform civil and military relationships in humanitarian operations.
The NGO’s focus is on respect for human rights, while for the military, the emphasis is on compliance with command structures; the former values strength in diversity while the latter values strength in unity of purpose. It is precisely because of these different perspectives that cooperation between civilian and military are governed by several carefully worded UN mandates.
Ireland has an enviable international record of humanitarian service at both UN and NGO levels. We and our politicians must be careful not to engage in policy drift, and become entangled by default, in the complex web of military/civilian relationships which pass for so much of humanitarian relief interventions in the world today.
– Yours, etc,
Dr VINCENT KENNY
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.