Thursday, July 10, 2008
When "Peacekeepers" are attacked
NY Times:
Seven international peacekeepers were killed and 22 wounded in a brazen day ambush by heavily armed men in trucks and on horseback in the Sudanese province of Darfur, United Nations officials said Wednesday.
The attack, on Tuesday, was the deadliest on international forces in Darfur since September 2007, when 10 peacekeepers were killed in an assault on a base, and was a severe blow to the combined United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force that has struggled to protect civilians and itself.
About 200 men in 40 trucks descended on a convoy of peacekeeping soldiers and police officers about 60 miles east of their base in El Fasher, the regional capital, as they returned from patrol. They had been investigating allegations of abuses by a rebel faction allied with the government.
The militiamen had heavy weapons, including antiaircraft and antitank guns mounted on their trucks, and a fierce firefight raged for three hours.
The peacekeepers took heavy casualties. Five Rwandan soldiers were killed, with police officers from Uganda and Ghana, a United Nations official in Sudan said.
Officials did not say who was responsible for the attack, and it has become increasingly difficult to determine who is who in the kaleidoscope of rebel movements and militia groups vying to control Darfur.
...
One of the myths of UN "Peacekeeping" forces is that if they just show up people will stop fighting. Most such forces are basically light infantry at best with no heavy weapons or armor.
In Africa, tribal warfare does not lend itself to this kind of "Peacekeeping." The famines are mostly man made for the purpose of starving adversaries into submission. When peacekeepers move in and start bringing food to the side being starved, it interferes with the logistic strategy of the adversary and more than likely he will strike back by stealing the food and attacking those interfering with his strategy.
Forces that are supposed to be stop the attacks become the next victims. What is needed in these situations is overwhelming force that includes heavy armor and artillery as well as air support and surveillance. In order to keep the peace in these situations the force must have the capacity to destroy adversaries. With out those force levels they do not have the ability to intimidate the adversaries into peace as was demonstrated by this story..
prairiepundit.blogspot.com |
