The UN's Forgotten Military Committee
TALMADGE, I. D. W.
All it has done since 1948 is rotate monthly chairmen The UN's Forgotten Military Committee By I. D. W Talmadge Every second Thursday of each month, 15 military officers meet in a small...
...In recent months, the only item on the agenda has been the selection of a chairman...
...To make it possible for the Security Council to take military action against an aggressor, the member states of the UN are obliged under Article 43 to make available to the Council, "on its call," armed forces, assistance and facilities...
...The 15 men greet each other cordially...
...At that meeting the head of the Soviet military delegation declared that, as previously, the USSR considered the participation of the "representative of the Kuomintang Group" in the MSC illegal...
...Next, the Security Council, on June 25, 1947, directed the MSC to submit an estimate of the over-all strength of the armed forces to be made available, indicating the strength and composition of the land, sea and air components, and the proportion of this strength to be provided on the basis of equality by the Big Five...
...The report consisted of 41 articles, covering 80 pages...
...Created in 1946, the MSC has held a total of 336 meetings...
...These 25 articles boiled down to'a simple and self-evident deduction: that the proposed international police force could be effective only against the "small fry" nations...
...Then, on January 19, 1950, its calm was shattered...
...The Soviet boycott was short-lived...
...The Soviet delegates withdrew from the 120th meeting of the MSC when it rejected, by a majority vote, the Soviet challenge to the representative of the Chinese delegation...
...For another full year, the MSC debated and deliberated...
...Specifically, its functions were: (1) to organize the "International Contingents of Armed Forces" (the armed forces which were to be placed at the disposal of the Security Council...
...There are the usual trappings of a UN session — earphones for simultaneous translation, stenotypists, interpreters, also pads of paper and sharpened pencils for the committee members to doodle on...
...Each of these countries has three representatives on the Committee—one officer respectively from the land, sea and air forces...
...the interna* tional "cops" could not be tough enough to halt an aggression committed by one of the Big Five powers...
...This just about sums up the "activities" of the 12-year-old MSC...
...In short, the job of the MSC was to advise the Security Council on all military matters...
...On April 30, 1947, after 15 months of deliberation, the MSC produced its first report for the Security Council...
...Next, someone moves for adjournment...
...Article 47 provides: "There shall be established a Military Staff Committee to advise and assist the Security Council on all questions relating to the Security Council's military requirements for the maintenance of international peace and security, the employment and command of forces placed at its disposal, the regulation of armaments, and possible disarmament...
...At the 140th meeting of the MSC, held on October 26, 1950, the Soviet delegates were back...
...The first time was in the Korean War, the second was last year when the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was formed to patrol the Egyptian-Israeli borders...
...and (3) to plan the military strategy and campaigns against an aggressor-nation...
...Of the 41 articles, there was unanimous agreement 6n 25...
...Then on July 2, 1948, it informed the Security Council that the other powers could not reach agreement with the Soviets...
...And the work of the UN Military Staff Committee is done for another month...
...2) to direct these forces in any military action against a country endangering world peace...
...It has its own technical staff ("administration, languages, and documents") which is independent of the UN Secretariat...
...even the Russians and the Chinese exchange pleasantries...
...Then they solemnly take their assigned seats around a horseshoe-shaped conference table...
...The Committee consists of the Chiefs of Staff (or their deputies) of the five permanent members of the Security Council—France, Nationalist China, the USSR, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
...The Charter calls for an MSC, so there is one...
...A vote is taken...
...In the months that followed, the MSC remained quiescent...
...He stated that the Soviet delegation was participating in the work of the MSC in the "interest of the common cause...
...I. D. W. Talmadge has for some years been editor of Scholastic magazine...
...The meetings—which are barred to the press and the public—seldom last more than a few minutes...
...No one at the UN has ever dared to propose -that the MSC be disbanded...
...All it has done since 1948 is rotate monthly chairmen The UN's Forgotten Military Committee By I. D. W Talmadge Every second Thursday of each month, 15 military officers meet in a small conference room on the seventh floor of the UN Library building...
...Its score so far—no hits, no runs, no errors, and not even one good "try...
...Since the international police force would be under the authority of the Security Council and, within the Council, each of the Big Five has the power of veto, consequently — the MSC reasoned — no major power would permit, unvetoed, any decision for UN military action against itself...
...All this costs the world organization about $125,000' a year...
...These resplendently uniformed men are members of the world organization's Military Staff Committee...
...But since this is prearranged on a monthly rotation basis among the five participating powers, the matter is disposed of quickly...
...Nevertheless, the MSC goes through the ritual of holding regular meetings...
...Someone else seconds the motion...
...Since then, there has been no further discussion in the MSC about the creation of UN armed forces...
...Shortly after that, it moved to New York where it has permanent headquarters...
...If any member of the MSC has ever collapsed from overwork, it's not on the record...
...No nyets...
...On two occasions, the UN did set up an international police force, but in neither case were these UN contingents placed under the authority of the MSC...
...The MSC came into existence in London on February 3, 1946...
...The MSC stems from the Charter of the United Nations...
Vol. 41 • June 1958 • No. 22
