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2007-01-18 Africa Horn

Mozambique set for Sudan, Somalia deployment

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Posted by Fred 2007-01-18 00:00|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Let me ask a stupid question: Are folks like Mozambique paid to send peacekeeping troops? What motivation does Mozambique have to volunteer to get themselves killed in the Sudan and Somalia?

Posted by Jump Wheatch9614 2007-01-18 09:55|| 2007-01-18 09:55|| Front Page Top

#2 Some form of regional stability is what they would be after .... Along with eradicating the pest that is Islam , obviously ..
As regards payments , I believe like Bangladeshi peace keepers , they are paid for by the UN . Peacekeeping earned Bangladesh approx $200m last year , yet they only had about 10,000 troops on the ground .

Watch the money leak away , year in year out

Any more stupid questions ?

Posted by MacNails 2007-01-18 10:13|| 2007-01-18 10:13|| Front Page Top

#3 The UN pays costs. Which takes the troops off the national budget for the time they are deployed in the peackeeping op. Also they get some experience. And I dont think the govt expects to get many killed.

Posted by liberalhawk 2007-01-18 16:54|| 2007-01-18 16:54|| Front Page Top

#4 oh, and then they can tell the big powers that pushed for the force how valuable they are, and try to get some goodies.

Posted by liberalhawk 2007-01-18 16:55|| 2007-01-18 16:55|| Front Page Top

#5 Plus, they earn political chits that can be cashed in whenever the sending government gets its tail in a crack.
Equipment upgrades for the sent units are also quite common, all paid with UN funds. As well, the "peacekeepers" tend to get much better training from actual professional armies than they could get at home.
Another plus is the medical attention such units get while on duty with the UN force : access to doctors, medicines, and techniques not generally available in the third world. The troops that the sending country gets back tend to be much healthier than when they left home : fully immunized, dental work done, fungal infections treated and cured, that sort of thing.
Another noted trend among "peacekeepers" is the amount of weight that the troops put on during their tours : access to much better quality food and in large amounts, often by stealing the local relief supplies. And that leaves out the whole "food for sex" aspect of "peacekeeping" : travel the world, see new and interesting people, and have sex with their barely pubescent sons and daughters.
And the governments do get reimbursed in hard currencies for any costs on the sent troops : important to the GNP of the sending countries.
One last benefit is that you can reward regime loyalists with such assignments, which lets them earn hard currency and fly your flag.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2007-01-18 18:17|| 2007-01-18 18:17|| Front Page Top

#6 Wolf, actually the opposite is often true. You send potential troublemakers overseas never to be heard from again. I believe a couple of units have been on duty with the UN for decades.

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2007-01-18 21:08|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org] 2007-01-18 21:08|| Front Page Top

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