A U.N. peacekeeping victory filled with promise

Washington Post ^ | November 22, 2013 | Editorial Board

[Pan_Yan]

FOR YEARS, a U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo was a glaring testament to the organization’s fecklessness. The largest such force in the world, with 19,000 troops, the “stabilization mission” cost $1.5 billion a year but utterly failed to pacify eastern Congo, which has been a battleground for warlords and the armies of neighboring powers for nearly two decades. At its low point a year ago, the U.N. blue helmets watched passively as a vicious force of defectors from the Congolese army occupied and ravaged the city of Goma.

Now, at last, the U.N. Congo mission has a victory to savor — as well as a potential model for future peacekeeping missions. This month a special U.N. “intervention brigade,” made up of 3,000 soldiers from Tanzania, South Africa and Malawi, joined the Congolese army in routing the defectors, whose M23 militia had been wreaking havoc for 18 months. Fleeing to Uganda, which, along with Rwanda, had been their sponsor, the rebels disbanded and were disarmed. Their military commander, Sultani Makenga, who is wanted for war crimes, is being held by the Ugandan army.

[Pan_Yan]

The biggest story in the news in 2011 was the UN using its proxies in NATO to overthrow the government in Libya. A much smaller story was UN troops assisting the French in overturning the election in Ivory Coast and putting an IMF banker (and Muslim) in charge.

Last year the UN authorized an offensive military force to assist in squashing rebellions in DR Congo. This is the first time troops under a UN flag have taken a side in a civil war and helped determine the outcome.

The Washington Post is cheerleading this as a good thing. Let's see what kind of precedent it sets.

[lavaroise]

I Aam sure their universal clap trap has already taken sides in America.