Remarks by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley at Lunch in Honor of the United...

Remarks by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley at Lunch in Honor of the United States Institute of Peace

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
Kennedy Center

MR. HADLEY: Senator Daschle, thank you very much for those kind
words. I'm very grateful. Ambassador Solomon, members of the board of
the U.S. Institute of Peace, distinguished guests, I want to thank you
for inviting me to join you for lunch today. This is a great day for
the United States Institute of Peace. Today we celebrate the new
permanent home of this truly remarkable organization. Once your new
facility is complete, the Institute will be able to expand its efforts
toward accomplishing its urgent mission: to prevent and resolve
violent conflicts; to promote post-conflict stability and development;
and to increase peacebuilding capacity, tools and intellectual
capital.

This morning the President discussed the surest way to prevent
conflicts and promote the long-term stability in the world -- and that
is to help more people live in freedom and to help more nations build
the institutions of liberty. The President renewed America's
commitment to help nations build these institutions. And he also
identified a new challenge: nations struggling to build these
institutions while under fire from terrorists and other transnational
threats. The President spoke about some of the ways the United States
and our partners are meeting this new challenge, and this afternoon
I'd like to expand a bit more on those efforts.

In the 20th century, most of the security challenges we faced were
rooted in the behavior and ideology of states, especially those states
darkened by fascism and communism. In the 21st century, we face
transnational threats that operate in many states, but that call no
single state home. These threats include terrorist networks, organized
crime, and traffickers in drugs, weapons, money, and even human
beings. These threats operate like parasites within the body of the
state, and the simple truth is that many states are simply too weak to
fight them off.

These parasites have considerable resources while their hosts have
few. Well-armed terrorist groups, well-funded often by drug money,
defend their safe havens with brutal violence, while the governments
under siege by these groups often struggle just to stand up basic
police protection for their people. It's a mismatch. And of course,
governments are weakest during post-conflict upheavals -- after wars
or the collapse of brutal dictatorships.

Regrettably, in a post-9/11 world we must see these weak states as
potential incubators for terrorists and other transnational threats --
threats that could reach our homeland or the homelands of our friends
and allies. So we have a vital national security interest in helping
these states strengthen themselves and fend off these threats.

The challenge is to help post-conflict states or failing states or
states under siege to transition to a place where their people are
secure, democratic institutions are functioning, and development
assistance can help speed them along the path to prosperity.

We are trying to meet this challenge in a comprehensive way.
First, we're making clear our goals; second, we're helping to provide
security; third, we're developing greater civilian capacities; fourth,
we are building stronger international partnerships; fifth, we are
strengthening our partnerships with non-governmental organizations;
and sixth, we are helping more states invest in their people. Let me
go through these one at a time.

First, we're making clear our goals, by defining the institutions
of liberty that are necessary for success. As the President said this
morning, these institutions include a democratic system of government,
a vibrant free press, an independent judiciary, a free enterprise
system, and places of worship where people are free to practice their
faith.

Helping nations strengthen the institutions of liberty does not
mean imposing our own form of these institutions upon them. In many
nations, these institutions will look quite different from those in
the United States. They will reflect the unique history and culture of
the nations themselves. Yet these institutions are necessary to give
the people of these nations the realistic hope of a better life and to
help strengthen the resistance of those nations to the transnational
threats of the 21st century.

Second, to build the institutions of liberty we are helping weak
and failing states provide security for their people. As the President
said this morning, the biggest lesson learned in Iraq and Afghanistan
is that a basic level of security is required for progress in building
the institutions of liberty. The United States and our partners are
helping states under siege improve security in several ways.

We are helping to improve security by training and equipping other
nations' security forces. In Lebanon, the United States has provided
vehicles, arms, and communications equipment that can strengthen the
Lebanese Army in fighting terrorist groups and resisting armed
militias. Some of this equipment is required very quickly and there is
a continuing need for training assistance to these countries.
Secretaries Gates and Rice want to be able to offer this type of
assistance in a timely way to more nations, but we need the help of
Congress to extend and expand the authorities that make this type of
assistance possible.

We are helping to improve security by training other nations'
police forces. The United States co-founded the Center for Excellence
for Stability Police Units, located in Italy. This center helps "train
the trainers" who then train stability police units to deploy to
conflict areas around the world. Through this initiative, we have
helped train 1,400 trainers from 26 countries since 2004.

We are helping to improve security by training international
peacekeepers. Through the U.S. Global Peace Operations Initiative, the
United States has helped train more than 41,000 peacekeepers from 45
countries, and more than 35,000 of them are already deployed in 18
peacekeeping operations around the world.

Third, to help build the institutions of liberty, we are
developing greater civilian capacities. Providing security requires
several different skill sets, and building the institutions of liberty
requires even more. To help local leaders strengthen the rule of law,
we need judges and prosecutors. To help them rebuild infrastructure,
we need civil engineers. To help them advance social justice, we need
health care workers and teachers. These skills are found in civilian
government agencies and in the private sector. Yet they must be able
to operate in dangerous environments and to cooperate with security
forces, whether they are the nation's own forces, international
peacekeepers, or the military forces of the United States and our
allies and partners.

We can help develop this civilian capacity by building a Civilian
Response Corps. As the President described this morning, a Civilian
Response Corps would include 250 full-time civilian government experts
able to deploy within 48 hours, 2,000 more U.S. government employees
able to leave their regular jobs and deploy within 60 days, and 2,000
civilian experts outside the government pre-cleared and pre-trained to
deploy quickly as well. Building a Civilian Response Corps is a
priority for the President, and we urge Congress to make it a priority
and to act quickly so this force can become a reality.

To help develop civilian capabilities for the long term, we must
strengthen the State Department and other federal agencies such as the
United States Agency for International Development. The President has
approved the expansion of the Foreign Service by 1,100 officers and
USAID by 300 officers. We're also strengthening these agencies by
increasing the number of officers trained in key languages.
Strengthening these agencies also means expanding exchange programs
that allow students and professionals to share their experiences. And
strengthening these agencies means making our foreign assistance
programs as effective as we can in helping nations build the
institutions of liberty.

Fourth, to help build the institutions of liberty we are
strengthening our international partnerships. Other nations have
created organizations to tap into their civilian expertise, including
Britain's Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit and Canada's CANADEM. As
more nations develop their civilian capabilities, multilateral
organizations must step forward with planning and coordinating
mechanisms that will allow all our nations to work together in the
field. Interoperability must become as central a concept for our
civilian capabilities as it is for our military.

One encouraging sign is the establishment of the United Nations
Peacebuilding Commission. The Commission was created to help convene
all the actors committed to help a particular country and work with
them to develop a common strategy. This approach has been used in
Sierra Leone, Burundi, and Guinea-Bissau, yet it has much more
potential. By fusing more of its planning on -- by focusing more of
its planning on building the institutions of freedom and democracy,
the Commission can become even more effective in helping to prevent
conflict and instability.

Fifth, to help the institutions of liberty, we are strengthening
our partnerships with non-governmental organizations. NGOs are some of
the most dynamic and energetic partners we have, and they are helping
build free institutions in Iraq, Kosovo, and around the world. Our
challenge is to ease the culture shock that many NGOs and security
forces experience when they must work closely together. The U.S.
military recognizes the value added by partners who are not in
uniform, and is getting used to working with NGOs that chart an
independent course to achieve common objectives. In turn, we must find
a way and more ways for NGOs to be able to accept the security support
offered by the military, without feeling they are compromising their
independence.

Sixth, to help build the institutions of liberty, we are
encouraging nations to invest in their people. As security grows and
governments begin to function more effectively, they will take more
responsibility for the future of their people. We have an obligation
to help as these governments make the choices and investments that
will lead their people to enduring peace and prosperity.

Our nation's development strategy includes historic commitments to
fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. It also
includes the innovative approach of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation. By signing a compact with the MCC, a nation commits to
specific goals to improve health and education, fight corruption, and
expand political and economic freedom. The United States, in turn,
agrees to help and back projects that can produce transformational
change in the countries that receive those grants. We urge Congress to
recognize the value of this approach, and fully fund the President's
request for the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Our development approach also includes helping nations expand the
role of women in society. This is a matter of morality and a matter of
basic math. No nation that cuts off half its population from
opportunity will be as productive or prosperous as it should be.

Finally, our development approach includes a commitment to open
markets by lowering barriers to trade and investment, and rejecting
the protectionism that keeps millions in developing countries stuck in
poverty. We are working to open global markets by concluding an
ambitious Doha Round agreement this year that will allow trade to lift
millions out of poverty.

As states build effective and accountable institutions for their
people, they need the help of the United States Institute of Peace.
Each nation making this journey can benefit from your resources, and
each nation in turn can become a resource for you as you evaluate
results, develop best practices, enrich the literature of the field,
and promote greater understanding of what actually works in the real
world.

The work of the Institute is already making a difference, but your
greatest impact is yet to come. Your new home will include a Public
Education Center that will draw students from across the nation and
around the world. These students will learn what can be done to help
prevent conflicts and advance peace in our world.

By broadening minds and opening hearts, the United States
Institute of Peace will help inspire future generations to find even
more ways to serve the cause of peace and freedom. And they in turn
will help create a better world.

Thank you very much.

END

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