You did the right thing by posting this. Instead off knee-jerk reactions, the proper FReeper response should be, "You're kidding. I'm going to find out more and will post what I find."
If this is true, I'm going to feel stupid for the 2 hours I spent last night carving an intricate George W. Bush jack-o-lantern (which turned out great, by the way.)
Posted wirelessly from my PocketPC.
Posted from my
LOCATION
GeorgiaHEADQUARTERS
Sukhumi
DURATION
August 1993 to date
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
AND HEAD OF MISSION
Ms. Heidi Tagliavini (Switzerland) (S/2002/643), (S/2002/644)
CHIEF MILITARY OBSERVER
Major-General Kazi Ashfaq Ahmed (Bangladesh)
STRENGTH (30 September 2002)
107 military observers; UNOMIG also includes 90 international civilian personnel and 175 local civilian staff
CONTRIBUTORS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL
Albania, Austria, Bangladesh, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and UruguayFATALITIES
4 military personnel
2 military observers
1 international civilian staff
7 total
FINANCIAL ASPECTS
Method of financing
Assessments in respect of a Special Account
Appropriations
1 July 2002 - 30 June 2003: $33.1 million (gross)
DO AMERICAN TROOPS SERVE UNDER FOREIGN COMMANDERS?
The U.S. Commander-in-Chief never relinquishes his command authority over U.S. troops. American commanding officers retain authority over their own military forces serving in UN operations, including disciplinary and personnel matters, and troops can be withdrawn at the discretion of the U.S. The UN Force Commander has overall operational control of a mission, but is not permitted to change the mission agreed upon by the U.S. President, divide U.S. units, reallocate their supplies, administer discipline, or change a unit's organization. When a significant number of U.S. troops are involved, operational control remains in American hands or in the hands of a trusted military ally such as a NATO member.
DO AMERICAN TROOPS WEAR UNITED NATIONS UNIFORMS?
U.S. troops participating in UN peacekeeping missions wear their American military uniforms. To identify themselves as part of a UN peacekeeping force, they also wear blue berets or helmets with the UN insignia. U.S. soldiers on peacekeeping missions do not swear allegiance to the United Nations.