Mongolia-US Comprehensive Partnership in the Context of the Northeast Asia : Challenges and Opportunities

Mongolia-US conference - March 1, 2005

I would like to thank Ambassador Ravdan Bold for inviting me to speak at this conference. 

The Ambassador and I have been good friends for several years, and he has even visited my home district in Pennsylvania .

I would also like to welcome our distinguished guests from Mongolia , including Members of Parliament, and former ambassadors and ministers.

I visited Mongolia in April 1998. 

I enjoyed the trip there a great deal.

The people were warm and friendly; the countryside is beautiful.

I hope to return again.

I am proud to co-chair the U.S.-Mongolia Friendship Caucus and I look forward to greater interaction between our two countries.

As you all know, Mongolia has been a steadfast partner with the United States in the global War on Terror. 

After 9/11, the government of Mongolia expressed its strong support for the United States and offered training opportunities for coalition forces and valuable over flight clearances.

Mongolia received U.S. peace support assistance in FY2000, 2001, and 2003 and has supported coalition operations by contributing troops to both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

In fact, Mongolia has deployed four rotations in each country. 

And, even though prior to 2000, Mongolia had not had a national policy of deploying forces beyond its borders, it became the first coalition country to contribute an infantry battalion in Iraq .

Interestingly, the last time Mongolian soldiers were in Iraq was in 1258, when they destroyed Baghdad . 

Now, the Mongolian military is participating in the elite peacekeeping battalion in Hillah , Iraq , providing security to the logistics base of the Polish-led Multinational Division South Central Iraq, escorting convoys, and constructing military barracks, medical facilities, and local schools.

Mongolian soldiers have proven their bravery and skill over and over. 

On Feb. 18, 2004, Sgt. Garbold Azaya, a noncommissioned officer, shot and killed the driver of a truck loaded with explosives as the vehicle tried to breach the perimeter of the Logistic Base in Al Hillah. 

The suicide attack occurred during the breakfast meal and the attempted breach was made near the mess hall. 

The subsequent explosion outside the perimeter caused substantial damage to the crowded mess hall and caused several minor injuries (mostly flying glass). 

If Sgt. Azaya had failed to stop the vehicle the penetration would have destroyed the mess hall - killing and wounding many soldiers. 

He has since been awarded a medal by Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and has been decorated by his own country.

American military officials such as Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have praised the Mongolian troops for their professionalism and discipline.

In Afghanistan , Mongolia ’s Mobile Training Teams have been training artillery units of the newly-established Afghan National Army, preparing the officers and soldiers who will be the core cadre for the first artillery battery of the Afghan National Army. 

Mongolian soldiers are uniquely suited to working in Afghanistan due to their familiarity with Soviet-era weaponry. 

The Mongolian military is of typical Soviet formation, and its weapons and equipment are 1960s- and 1970s-vintage and Soviet made. 

While the Mongolian army still drives tanks and infantry vehicles from that era, Mongolian generals have indicated their desire to move away from the Soviet army and division system toward brigades and battalions that are lighter, with fewer tanks and faster, more survivable transportation. 

Many Mongolian army commissioned and noncommissioned officers even attend military school in other countries, such as in the U.S. at the Army’s Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . 

And we are glad to have them here.

The fourth and current rotation of the Mobile Training Team is training instructors, maintenance specialists, and artillery corpsmen, and has divided its responsibilities into three groups: howitzer, mortar, and maintenance. 

In proportion to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and population of only 2.5 million people, these contributions are indeed significant and are greatly appreciated.

The United States and Mongolia are cooperating on a number of other fronts, as well.

During the visit of Mongolian President Natsagiin Bagabandi to the United States last July, then Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that he and the President had discussed the situation in North Korea , and that both the U.S. and Mongolia agree on the need for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula . 

Additionally, I was also very glad to learn that Mongolia was selected for Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) support in the first ever round of selection in FY04. 

Mongolia was one of only 16 countries to be chosen, and it was again chosen for MCA funding for FY05.

As most of you know, MCA funding is awarded to developing nations that are pursing political and economic reforms in three areas:

·       Ruling justly — promoting good governance, fighting corruption, respecting human rights, and adhering to the rule of law.

·       Investing in people — providing adequate health care, education, and other opportunities promoting an educated and healthy population.

·       Fostering enterprise and entrepreneurship — promoting open markets and sustainable budgets.

I was also greatly honored to work with some of you to deliver a fire truck, educational supplies, and medical supplies donated by the citizens of my district to Mongolia .

This is part of my ongoing effort to connect the resources of our people to the needs of others around the world.

I call this people-to-people diplomacy.

And it has been extremely effective in many areas of the world.

So far, I have worked with constituents to raise money to buy and ship:

• Shipment of medical supplies and clothing to the Malukus in Indonesia .
• School supplies and medicine to Kashmir .
• Dialysis machines to Moldova and
• Ambulances to Pakistan and Western Sahara .
• Just to name a few.