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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| EU Approves Congo Peacekeeping Mission |
| 2003-06-04 |
| The European Union approved its first peacekeeping mission outside Europe and without help from NATO, deciding Wednesday to send troops to strife-torn Congo in response to a U.N. plea. HELP!!!!!! EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels OKed the deployment after clearing up logistical questions, including how it will be financed, EU diplomats said on condition of anonymity. The operation will be dubbed Artemis after the Greek goddess of hunting. Artemis is a friend to mortals, and dances through the countryside in her silver sandals giving her divine protection to the wild beasts, particularly the very young. She rides her silver chariot across the sky and shoots her arrows of silver Moonlight to the earth below. Artemis is not skilled in warcraft but she can punish and kill as the will of Zeus dictates. Sounds like the EU, but who is their Zeus? The French-led force of 1,400 - authorized by the U.N. Security Council last Friday - would be only the second mission undertaken by the EU. The bloc took over peacekeeping duties in Macedonia last March with about 400 troops, but received planning and logistical support from NATO, which includes the United States. A mission to northeast Congo, where tribal fighting over the past month has killed more than 500 people, would be a far bigger test of the EU's effort to develop a military wing independent of NATO to beef up its foreign policy ambitions. It also would involve considerably more risk than anything tried so far. ``The situation is anything but safe or stable at the moment,'' EU spokesman Diego de Ojeda said. Macedonians don't eat you for lunch France, which has extensive experience intervening in African trouble spots, will supply the commander of the Congo force and about 700 troops. Britain, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland may also participate along with non-EU nations such as South Africa, Brazil, Canada and Ethiopia. This should be fun The vanguard of the force is expected in the city of Bunia this weekend. France will hold a conference next Tuesday in Paris for countries that want to contribute troops. The final order to deploy and an operational plan should be approved by the next day, diplomats said, adding that both were considered formalities. The force will take over from about 750 beleaguered U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay until Sept. 1, when a larger U.N. force led by Bangladesh is due to be in place. The EU began four years ago to put together a pool of 60,000 troops available at short notice for peacekeeping, humanitarian operations and regional crises. Defense ministers declared the rapid-reaction force ready last month, although hardware gaps remain. Like air transport Diplomats said the EU force would be well armed, backed by mechanized units and would operate under robust rules of engagement to allow it to defend itself and civilians. Its main tasks will be to secure Bunia and its airport and protect aid agencies and tens of thousands of refugees around the city. Doomed! |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 The Irish are sending troops? Get out! Ireland is actually going to get involved in a fight outside the island? Canada is going to go in? For real? Brazil? I guess it's ok to kill people sometimes, eh boys? And you know, people WILL die, including civilians. Maybe hundreds of thousands of them. And I ask you, are millions of lives really worth saving if even ONE civilian dies in a war? The EU better be ready for the blowback from this. Colonial and white powers invading an African country rich in resources? Does anyone really believe this is about ending oppression and civil war? Who has the most to gain? This will be an occupation. A quagmire, I tell ya... Where is Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky and Jose Bove when you really need them? |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-06-05 00:17:40 |
| #9 I have this dream of mechanized units wandering through the jungle...oh wait, it's a nightmare. |
| Posted by: john 2003-06-04 13:05:19 |
| #8 Anon1---We are here to help you get through the heavy times. Bulldog lives near Stonehenge and I deal with Federal and State bureaucrats and bears in the neighborhood in Alaska, so we have a deep well to draw from. Heh heh.... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-06-04 12:40:54 |
| #7 Al-Aska, Bulldog: you BOTH crack me up!!! hahahahahh Operation Heart of Darkness it is or UNFART for short |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-06-04 11:41:46 |
| #6 Speaking of air transport, how are they getting there, especially the mechanized units? My tax dollars at work? Ukrainian Tupolevs? Bulldog: LOL |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-06-04 11:19:21 |
| #5 The mission's going to require a catchy acronym in keeping with standard UN nomenclature, e.g. UNMOVIC, UNPROFOR. I propose UN/French-led Artemis: UNFART. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-06-04 11:01:29 |
| #4 Speaking of taking on additional projects like Operation |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-06-04 10:43:48 |
| #3 brits and french provide the cutting edge units, IIUC, the others (execpt maybe the Swedes?) are mainly peacekeepers, not peacemakers. Best French unit for stuff like this is the Foreign Legion, no? Are they in? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-06-04 10:15:18 |
| #2 Diplomats said the EU force would be well armed, backed by mechanized units and would operate under robust rules of engagement to allow it to defend itself and civilians. If this is the case and not just diplospeak bullshit, maybe, just maybe, they might accomplish something there. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-06-04 09:46:09 |
| #1 Operation Artemis?! What moron decided that was a ggod name. "Let's go hunting in the jungle, Michel! Let's bag some pygmies!" Oh yes, it sounds very classical, sophisticated, educated. But what a stupid faux pas. They shouldn't have too much trouble with airlift. There's at least one Ilyushin in the Congo that's eager for business. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-06-04 09:39:43 |