{
  "id": "RL31120",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31120",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101089,
      "date": "2001-11-01",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:19:34.279941",
      "title": "Peacekeeping: Military Command and Control Issues",
      "summary": "Coalition warfare and the leadership of foreign commanders has played a part in U.S. history\nsince\nthe War for Independence, when the commander of the troops of the predecessor colonies, George\nWashington, entrusted a key mission and command of 2,000 Continental soldiers to a French Major\nGeneral, the Marquis de Lafayette. Since 1900, there have been at least seventeen military\noperations in which the United States has placed U.S. troops under a foreign commander. \n  As of November 1, 2001, some 6,515 U.S. troops serve under a French general in the NATO\nKosovo Force (KFOR). Some 865 troops also serve in the Multinational Force in the Sinai (MFO),\nan ad hoc coalition, under a Canadian commander. As of August 31, 2001, the United States had 43\nU.S. troops serving under commanders from various nations in seven U.N. operations.\n  During the last decade, some Members of Congress have expressed concern about the\nplacement of U.S. troops under a foreign commander; in general, this concern has centered on such\nplacement in U.N. operations. Until the end of the Cold War, U.S. support for U.N. operations had\nbeen generally limited to air lift, even though Congress in 1949 had granted the President the\nauthority to detail up to 1,000 personnel in a non-combatant capacity for U.N. peacekeeping\nactivities. But controversy arose in the early 1990s, when the United States began to place U.S.\ntroops under U.N. commanders. Since then, Members of Congress have made various legislative\nattempts to restrict the placement of U.S. troops under U.N. command. The first, in 1995, was\nincluded in the Contract for America legislation, which passed the House ( H.R. 7 ), but\nnot the Senate. The second was contained in the FY1996 DOD authorization bill vetoed by\nPresident Clinton ( H.R. 1530 ), in part due to this provision. Congress deleted the\nprovision from the version that became law, and since then has not passed such a restriction.\n  Although troops from other nations have served under U.S. commanders, some Members of \nCongress are troubled by several issues raised by ceding even some level of control over U.S. troops\nto foreign commanders. These revolve around questions about whether placing U.S. soldiers under\na foreign commander in any way impinges on U.S. sovereignty, and whether U.S. troops face greater\ndanger under a foreign commander. Those who favor such placement put forth various procedures\nand arrangements that are taken to avoid such problems, for instance, U.S. troops are placed under\na foreign commander only for a specified time and a specific mission. The foreign commander's\nauthority over U.S. troops is limited to the authority necessary to organize, coordinate, and direct the\nmission-related tasks of those units provided to him, in order to accomplish the assigned mission. \nIn addition a variety of safeguards are recognized as needed to protect U.S. troops, many of which\nwere spelled out in former President William Clinton's Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 25\nof May 1994. In particular, the United States participates actively in the policymaking bodies that\noversee the military operation, seeks the clear delineation of operational missions in governing\nagreements, and limits the authority of foreign commanders.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}