VIRTUAL TRUTH COMMISSION TOPICS

VIRTUAL TRUTH COMMISSION TOPICS

Virtual Truth Commission

Law Creating JCET

1986, congress passed Special Operations Command Act, establishing a unifiede command for allUS special operations, including Army Rangers and Special Forces, Navy Seals, and Air Force special operations airmen. John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

1991, congress enacted sec. 2011 of title10 of the US Code (Joint Combined Exchange Training) providing the commander of the Special Operations Command with broad authority to pay the deployment and training costs of SOF training abroad with foreign security forces. The law imposed only two requirements, that the primary purpose be to train US SOF forces and that an annual report on the prior year's training operations be submitted to Congress by the Defense Department. The law also permits payment for 'incremental expenses' (rations, fuel, ammunition, and transportation), of the host country if that nation is unable to pay them. John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

JCET "involves small deployments of special operations personnel--sometimes fewer than a dozen troops--that conduct exercises jointly with foreign security forces to train the participants in a variety of areas that 'sharpen critical SOF mission essential task list...skills and enhance host-nation skills.' The 1997 Pentagon's report states, "SOF unit training is a significant, relatively low cost tool in the strategy of engagement." John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

In 1999 Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Lane Evans (D-IL), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced the "International Military Training Transparency and Accountability Act" -- HR 1063 -- which would ban most military training to Indonesia because of ongoing human rights violations, including the brutal invasion December 7,1975, and the formal but illegal integration of East Timor the following July as Indonesia's 27th proviince. According to human rights groups and the Catholic Church, more than 200,000 people -- one-third of the pre-invasion population -- have been killed by the Indonesian occupation forces. The Indonesian military continues to brutalize the people of Indonesia and occupied East Timor. This bill will close loopholes that have allowed the Pentagon to continue training militaries even when Congress had banned them from the International Military Education and Training (IMET) and similar programs. Last spring, it was disclosed that the Pentagon continued ongoing training of some of Indonesia's most notorious military units through the Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) program, combat training Congress thought it had banned after the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor when it cut off IMET. Seeking support for the bill from their colleagues, a bipartisan group of Congressmembers wrote: "The executive branch must understand that when Congress says to halt military assistance to murderers, torturers, and thugs, we mean what we say."

Arguments Pro and Con JCET

Pro

The Pacific Command states, "The JCET program serves several purposes which are increasingly important in promoting cooperative operations with Asia-Pacific nations. JCETs act as a force multiplier in support of the host nation's goal of training its forces. JCETs expand the host nation's capabilities to react to situations requiring exceptional sensitivity, including non-combat missions such as humanitarian assistance, security assistance, and peace operations. JCETs are the stepping stones to the future, providing participating nations with capabilities that extend their vision beyond the battlefield, increasing their flexibility, enhancing their effectiveness for maintaining already existent high training standard, and gaining experience not available through other programs. Ralph E. Saner and Dan J. Poulos, "Special Operations Forces...JCETs in the Pacific," para 12.

Con

JCET ignores human rights. The US military is required to screen participating foreign personnel for abusers of human rights, however this is not a requirement under JCET, thereby permitting"the military to pursue an almost independent policy, free of congressional or presidential limitations that apply to every other miitary aid and training program. Thus JCET programs have gone to countries such as Suriname and Equatorial Guinea, which have poor human rights records. Most recently, JCET training of troops of Colombia and Indonesia have brought more Congressional scrutiny. John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

"JCET turns SOF personnel into key representatives of the U. S. government--as self-appointed 'diplomat-warriors.' SOF personnel often have more active contact with foreign officials than do people from anyh other U. S. agency, including the State department. Deployed abroad at an average of 4800 in any given week, SOF personnel already outnumber the 4000 Foreign Service officers of the State Department." John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

"Placing such a heavy emphasis on improving the armed forces in nations attempting to move toward democracy and civilian control is dangerous" "Militaries strengthened by the United States could end up toppling the very democratic governments that American policy makers want to keep in power." John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

Instances of specific concern

"Despite an almost total ban on US military assistance to Indonesia, JCET personnel trained with Indonesia's special forces, Kopassus, to conduct helicopter and urban warfare. Many of the same Indonesian units were later suspected of abuses during the political unrest surrounding theend of President Suharto's rule. John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

"Although the Pentagon emphasizes the humanitarian aspects of its training, Lt. Col. Stephen Howard, the deputy political advisor to the U. S. Special Operations Command, wrote, "Training foreign militaries consistent with our democratic values (called Foreign Internal Defense or FID) is SOF's most common mission today." While today's FID is often described with such terms as 'democracy building', FID has meant and continues to mean counterinsurgency training. The "1998 Special Operations Forces Posture Statement" indicates that special forces, when carrying out FID, will organize, train, advise, and assist host-nation military and paramilitary forces to enable these forces to free and protect their society from subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency." JCET missions are in effect teaching techniques that could be ussed for oppression in the name of spreading democracy. John Rudy and Ivan Eland, Special Operations Military Training Abroad and Its Dangers, Cato Institute, June 22, 1999

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Updated September 25, 1999

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