Posted on 07/31/2007 2:15:00 PM PDT by aShepard
Security Council Approves 26,000-Strong Peacekeeping Force to Help End Darfur Bloodshed 07-31-2007 4:22 PM By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (Associated Press) -- The U.N. Security Council approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur on Tuesday to try to help end four years of fighting that has killed more than 200,000 people in the conflict-wracked Sudanese region.
The force _ the first joint peacekeeping mission by the African Union and the United Nations _ will replace the beleaguered 7,000-strong AU force now on the ground in Darfur no later than Dec. 31. The council urged that the AU-U.N. "hybrid" force achieve "full operational capability and force strength as soon as possible thereafter."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it a "historic and unprecedented resolution" that will send "a clear and powerful signal" of the U.N.'s commitment to help to the people of Darfur and the surrounding region "and close this tragic chapter in Sudan's history."
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry called it "an unprecedented undertaking in scale, complexity and importance."
The conflict in Darfur began in February 2003 when ethnic African tribes rebelled against what they consider decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed _ a charge it denies.
The poorly equipped and underfunded African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting, and neither has the Darfur Peace Agreement, signed a year ago by the government and one rebel group. Other rebel factions called the deal insufficient, and fighting has continued.
The U.N. and Western governments have pressed Sudan since November to accept a U.N. plan for a joint force. After stalling for months, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed in April to a "heavy support package" to strengthen the AU force, including 3,000 U.N. troops, police and civilian personnel along with aircraft and other equipment.
The resolution lays the groundwork for the deployment of the much larger 26,000-strong hybrid force, which will be called UNAMID. The force will have up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, a civilian component including up to 3,772 international police, and 19 special police units with up to 2,660 officers.
Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, reacted harshly to earlier versions of the resolution, calling one circulated last week "ugly" and "awful." Britain and France, the key sponsors of the resolution, stripped harsh language in an attempt to win approval.
The final draft has one section under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with threats to peace and security and can be militarily enforced.
It authorizes UNAMID to take "the necessary action" to protect and ensure freedom of movement for its own personnel and humanitarian workers.
It also authorizes the hybrid force to take action to "support early and effective implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement, and prevent the disruption of its implementation and armed attacks, and thus to protect civilians, without prejudice to the responsibility of the government of Sudan."
But the final resolution dropped Chapter 7 authorization to monitor the presence of arms in Darfur in violation of U.N. resolutions and the peace agreement, which Sudan strongly objected to.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sorry guys at the UN, we won't be sending troops, we're kinda busy here on our own!
Are the French going?
Moreso than that little incident in Korea 55 years ago?
And exactly WHO is it that is going to provide the troops, and the material, here?
Red China, maybe?
Or the gentle Iranians?
Maybe the Russian Federation?
Who do you think was stirring up the unrest in the first place?
Talk about grabbing a tar baby (reference is to Br’er Fox, of the Uncle Remus tales).
The US should not touch this with a 40-foot pole.
4 years and 200,000 people dead later...
This paper has gathered more than 20 victims' accounts claiming that peacekeeping and civilian staff based in the town are regularly picking up young children in their UN vehicles and forcing them to have sex.
It is thought that hundreds of children may have been abused.
sarc so obvious I don't really need the /sarc command
Look out Darfur! The UN is on the way.
.................Do they have WMD’s? Are they an immediate threat to World Peace? No? Well it sounds like a civil war to me. And who wants to put our brave warriors in the middle of a civil war?................
A most excellent point! Thank you
So who are the 26,000 going to support? The government that is killing everyone or, the people trying to get rid of the government killing them?
The tribes just have to kill one of them and the UN will be out of there.
Unless it’s one of our guys. Then they’ll want more of our troops. As I have said, I would resign from the military if they wanted to send me there. Those people are animals and have never stood up for themselves. Even if the conflict stopped, the wrong people would take over and it would start again.
http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/CWN/041604sudan.aspx
Older article but basically shows the kiss of Islam again shows its colors of terror, crime, mahem, murder, rape, and other fine attributes.
Another place turned into a thing of beauty by the presence of Islam....when will the world get the picture???
That was my initial reaction as well.
My next thought is what happens if Arab and African jihadis decide to fight the UN peacekeepers on behalf of the Islamic government in Khartoum? After all, wouldn't the jihadis see this UN mission as yet another example of white Christian crusaders invading an Islamic nation to rescue fellow Christians? Will Iraq become a less desireable destination for jihad, especially now that they're getting an ass-whooping by US forces there?
I wonder if there's still some clever spooks in the US capable of shifting the focus of worldwide Jihad to the Sudan so we can wrap up Iraq and keep this island-hopping tour of cleansing Islamic nations going...
I guess we'll know if the rats at DU start defending and cheering on the murderous Janjeweed like they do with every single other villainous group in the world.
This is why I am a strong advocate of the US creating a Foreign Legion outside of the US. Acting as an instrument of US foreign policy, but not part of the US military, there would be far less resistance to them being sent all over to do the crap jobs we don’t want our military doing, like peacekeeping missions in Africa.
For a fraction of the cost of a US military division, we could have 30,000 of some of the best fighters on the planet on an island, with a shoestring budget. Gurkhas, Sikhs, ex-ROK soldiers, Iraqis, etc. All would be thrilled to be on our payroll.
In addition to their pay, we could give them all sorts of low cost incentives, such as classroom instruction in English and all sorts of other useful classes to make them the highest quality mercenary force around.
When we needed to ship them somewhere, they would take regular US military transport, be fed on military rations, be issued a lot of surplus equipment like tents, field kitchens, etc.
By just supporting them, instead of using our own personnel, the US would save enormous sums of money, and be able to commit forces to situations of marginal interest that today we take a pass on.
Most of what they would do would be light engineering, to build their base wherever, peacekeeping duties, guard duties, and relief operations. None of which are appropriate uses for our military.
The costs would be similar to a major prison set up in a populous US State. Which means that after start-up costs, it would not be a budget buster.
Again, as the French learned the hard way, it is not a good idea to keep such an army in country; but the US has plenty of places that would do just fine for such a force.
We’ll see how this goes, but I’m guessing this will turn into UNAMUD, not UNAMID.
I’m sure the left will give the UN about two weeks to solve all of Sudan’s problems, then call for a unilateral pull-out. As if...
Nah, the UN is the left’s idea of heaven on earth. They can do no wrong, whether it’s raping the kids or the women of Darfur.
Good luck people of Darfur. This just isn’t your day is it...
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