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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Annan Pushes Security Force for Congo |
| 2003-05-14 |
| They're doomed. EFL. Security Council diplomats said Tuesday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked France to provide a battalion with about 700 troops to eastern Congo, and was also talking to other governments that could provide military contingents. ``France has indicated that in principle it is prepared to participate in such a force, provided there is Warriors from the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups are battling each other following the withdrawal of Ugandan troops in the region. At least 160 people have died in the last week. Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said she worried that the ethnic violence could increase. ``It could be a genocide,'' said Del Ponte, who is in charge of prosecuting perpetrators of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda and those responsible for war crimes in former Yugoslavia. The latest violence in the lawless eastern Congo province of Ituri broke out May 7 after neighboring Uganda pulled out the last of its more than 6,000 soldiers in and around the main city Bunia, leaving what Uganda warned would be a security vacuum. The Ugandan withdrawal left Bunia in the hands of local Lendu tribal fighters, a 625-member U.N. contingent made up mostly of troops from Uruguay, and an even smaller Congolese police force. The contingent proved no match for an estimated 25,000 to 28,000 tribal fighters in Ituri. How do we know the UN contingent was no match? They never tried. Clashes for control of Bunia immediately broke out between warriors of the Lendu and the rival Hema ethnic group. More than 10,000 people in the embattled city took shelter under U.N. protection at the city's airport and a U.N. compound, a U.N. spokeswoman said. Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram, the current Security Council president, said ``there is no crystallization of positions as yet'' on what to do in Congo. Ask us next year. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who will lead a Security Council mission to Congo and Central Africa next month, said ``there is no definite decision'' by the government on sending troops. He said France has set several conditions, including getting other countries to provide troops and authorizing the mission for a limited period of time. Authorize it for a limited time and the thugs will just wait the clock out. Annan said he talked on Tuesday to the Ugandan government and South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is also talking to the leaders in the region. ``But we have asked the Ugandan government to cooperate and to use its influence in the region to ensure that the militia and the people in the region restrain themselves and do not escalate tensions in the region,'' Annan said. Perhaps the Ugandan troops should have stayed? But that would be too sensible. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #13 Good question by the way: where are the Belgians? Answer: they ARE pussies and aren't going to help in any important way. But these kinds of "security forces" can never work. Reason? If it comes to a real fight, what soldier from Pakistan or France, or Belgium, is going to die for a bunch of Congolese? It's the "why we fight" question. (French and Belgian soldiers. Just sends chills down the spine, don't it?) Allied forces work when the allies have an actual interest in winning a war. |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-05-15 02:04:39 |
| #12 A technical note: The French call companies battalions and so on. Companies typically have around 100 riflemen. So a French battalion would number around 100 riflemen. In US terms what Annan is asking for is closer to a regiment/brigade. |
| Posted by: badanov 2003-05-14 22:03:09 |
| #11 Reading this and the article below, want to bet that France's military go on strike tomorrow? That will make it far more difficult to do ANYTHING - even worse than normal for the French. Maybe they can borrow a dozen or so CASA 222's from the Spanish Air Force... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-14 14:34:04 |
| #10 I'll believe the world is serious about the Congo when a serious plan is floated to partition the region. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2003-05-14 12:26:00 |
| #9 After the French end commercial Concorde flights later this year, they could transition the aircraft to military use. I bet each Concorde could hold as many as fifty troopers with their equipment. While they could move forces quickly, flights would be restricted to really long, hardened runways. May be tough to find in Africa… |
| Posted by: The Kid 2003-05-14 11:29:38 |
| #8 I think France can take care of this. The Lendus won't know what hit them. It'll be like 'Bam' right across the forhead. Couple mechanized divisions and a few air wings. Float the whole force over on the Fleet De Republique |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-05-14 10:41:41 |
| #7 Since Thabo's country controls much of Subsaharan africa, why aren't they the majority of the peacekeeping force? and where the hell are the belgians? too busy throwing war crime indictments at everyone else? pussies.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-14 09:59:34 |
| #6 The Lendu just love French cuisine, paratrooper flambe, etc. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-05-14 09:19:30 |
| #5 Is there any way we can remove the word "security" from anything to do with the UN? Can we at least put it in Reuters quotation marks? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-14 08:41:50 |
| #4 . More than 10,000 people in the embattled city took shelter under U.N. protection at the city's airport and a U.N. compound, a U.N. spokeswoman said. Yep. They're doomed, the poor souls... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-05-14 03:28:15 |
| #3 "We're kinda busy right now. Good luck, you'll need it..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-14 02:37:14 |
| #2 "and other governments join in" That means Uncle Sam has to get involved...without the US to provide topcover, the cheese eaters might get accused of...shudder...quagmirism! Besides, who is going to provide logistics support and strategic airlift if we don't? Not France! The A300 has not been delivered and and France can't easily move or supply a militarily significant force beyond her borders. |
| Posted by: Watcher 2003-05-14 02:06:45 |
| #1 Since Thabo's country controls much of Subsaharan africa, why aren't they the majority of the peacekeeping force? and where the hell are the belgians? too busy throwing war crime indictments at everyone else? pussies.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 5/14/2003 9:59:34 AM |