UN peacekeepers do more harm than good

The U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1701 in 2006 to help end the war that erupted when Hezbollah crossed the U.N.-certified border to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers. The goal of 1701 was to improve UNIFIL enforcement, as Hezbollah had not only built an arsenal of over 100,000 rockets and missiles under its watch, but also used UNIFIL equipment and uniforms to approach Israeli forces during attacks.

Resolution 1701 committed Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah and all other militias. Israel has fulfilled its duties. This is not the case for UNIFIL. Simply put, if UNIFIL had done its job, there would be no war. This is not just a question of UN neglect, however.

A world without UNIFIL would also be more stable because peacekeepers have actively covered Hezbollah's rearmament. The problem is not a single Katyusha or Scud missile crossing a checkpoint, but rather an arsenal larger than that of most states. UN pride or the desire of constituent nations to use well-paid peacekeeping positions as a reward program should not be a reason to accept mediocrity, neglect or worse.

UNIFIL is not alone either. The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, established 60 years ago, may have separated the Cypriots from the Turkish invaders, but it has done nothing to restore peace. Quite the contrary: Turkey has increased its military presence, imported tens of thousands of settlers, violated the status quo in Varosha and even attacked UN peacekeepers near Pyla. The cowardice of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has only encouraged the Turks to go further.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that the world recognize the Turkish-occupied area as a separate country. Earlier this year, he openly lamented that Turkey had not annexed all of Cyprus. UN peacekeepers did not bring peace to Cyprus any more than the confiscation of the Sudetenland brought peace to Czechoslovakia.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo is perhaps the worst of the lot. Founded 25 years ago, it enabled the same Hutu militants who precipitated the genocide in Rwanda to transform Congolese refugee camps into terrorist training centers to continue their attacks against Rwandan and Congolese Tutsis. After MONUSCO planes bombed local groups defending themselves against Hutu aggression, Hutus trained in MONUSCO camps attempted to organize a cross-border attack into Rwanda itself.

The Tutsi and Rwandans are not the only ones to complain about the behavior of MONUSCO. In Kinshasa, religious leaders complained that the Pakistani MONUSCO contingent was facilitating the recruitment of local Muslims by the Islamic State. As the world reels from war in Europe and the Middle East, MONUSCO's incompetence could soon precipitate a cross-border war in Africa.

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For decades, UN peacekeeping operations have been mixed. Missions in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast operated and were disbanded. Many others continue for decades, because even those who doubt their effectiveness believe that subsidizing the missions couldn't hurt. However, the incompetence of UN peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Cyprus and the Democratic Republic of Congo increasingly shows that lack of leadership, immunity, money and moral confusion create a deleterious mixture that promotes war rather than preventing it.

With some UN peacekeeping missions costing more than $1 billion, it is time to reconsider the entire approach. Investing money in peace may be wise, but investing in UNIFIL, UNFICYP and MONUSCO today is more likely to lead to war than peace. If Guterres does not clean up the UN and peacekeeping operations, it will be up to the next US administration and Congress to use their tyranny and financial power to do it for him.

Michael Rubin is a contributor to Washington Examiner Beltway Confidential Blog. He is director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.