U.N. Approves More Troops For Darfur, But It’s Still A Crisis!
The Humanitarian Crisis, the Genocide - This is the reality of Darfur for the past four years. In a recent move by the United Nations, they have approved up to 26,000 more troops and police for Darfur.
U.N. approves up to 26,000 troops, police for Darfur
The U.N. Security Council authorized on Tuesday up to 26,000 troops and police for Darfur and approved the use of force to protect civilians in Sudan’s arid western region.
Expected to cost more than $2 billion in the first year, the combined “hybrid” U.N.-African Union operation aims to quell violence in Darfur, where more than 2.1 million people have been driven into camps and an estimated 200,000 have died over the past four years.
The increase in troops sounds good, and I admit, it’s better than nothing. But like most U.N. resolutions, it is hindered by negotiations after negotiations, after negotiations. In the end, you have a resolution that the Government that you wish to impose the resolution against, is the one who is holding the resolution hostage.
The resolution, which has been watered down several times, no longer allows the new force to seize and dispose of illegal arms, saying it can only monitor such weapons.
Sudan’s U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, told reporters, “I am comfortable with the resolution.” He said the use of Chapter 7 was limited and that negotiators “went to great lengths to satisfy our concerns.”
But after much hesitation, and trying to derail this process, the Sudan government finally gave its approval. Gee thank you.
Sudan, after months of hesitation, has agreed to the troop numbers, but U.N. officials expect it will take a year to get the entire force in place. Khartoum also has to agree to allow units from individual countries into Sudan.
But, any step, any step at all, to move ahead in helping The Darfur people is good. I disagree with which the United Nations and all the member nations have acted in such a slow in this humanitarian crisis, but this is international politics. It is the reality, but then again, thousands of dying Darfurians is also another reality we could talk about as well.
The True Darfur Reality
Darfur, Sudan: “People are completely dependent on humanitarian assistance for their survival”
Dr. Christophe Fournier, MSF’s International Council president, recently returned from an assessment mission to Darfur, Sudan, and describes the humanitarian situation there as well as the work and the challenges faced by MSF. He also shares his concerns over proposals to create military-protected corridors for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region.
How would you describe the situation for civilians in Darfur today?
Over a two-week period, I visited three regions of Darfur and what struck me most was the everyday insecurity faced by people living there. Although the violence may not be as intense as it was in 2003 and early 2004, civilians continue to be killed. The two million displaced people living in camps or settlement areas risk attack whenever they venture to collect firewood or water; effectively turning these areas into prisons, with violence both inside and out. Hundreds of thousands of more people remain out of reach, cut off from humanitarian assistance by the ongoing conflict.
I am clearly behind the United Nation’s move to increase troop level, but I am condemning them for their slow, very slow pace. Each day they procrastinate, play politics, and do nothing is another day in which hundreds more Darfurians will die. Again, let us look at reality!
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Hi Nick,
Glad to hear UN increased number of troops. But 26,000 is still not up to speed. Double that number and perhaps things will move.
Just off the cuff thoughts hereunder:
That 26,000 is not deployable in one go - While I don’t know the operational arrangements as well as the rules of engagement made for that part of the world, I don’t believe that the 26,000 are dployable in one go, i.e., they rotate so in effect, at some point or the other, you only have a maximum of 16,000 troops that are deployed (and that can’t shoot!) which is tiny given the massive scope of the Darfour problem.
Unfortunately, very difficult to count on the Western armies to send more - Britain, France, (professionalized armies hence very streamlined) Germany, I believe draft is still enforced, Holland (don’t know if they’re professional in Holland), Spain, Italy, etc. ALL HAVE VERY LITTLE ARMIES and are already stretched. (NATO forces/member nation armies are not big - that’s why NATO by itslef is (as well as member nations) counting on acquiring extremely sophisticated weapons systems to make up for the shortage in men.)
Only the US with its 1 million reserve force has the kind of manpower to do some police/basic military work but even then they are already hugely stretched too (On top of which, American reserve force are not the most well trained military reservists in the world and are therefore usually not up to speed either.) They have 15,000 professional officers and troops in Aghanistan, 10x that number I believe in Iraq plus thousands more in other places around the world - so clearly they too are stretched thin. (Besides Bush needs troops for his impending war with Iran…)
Maybe, we should leave peacekeeeping everywhere in the world to Indians, do things that Western Military can’t do - with billions in population, we certainly can count on their men folk to be in the military.
It is imperative that we start training Africans to police themselves, give them responsibilities, train them in military management, educate them in the basic notions of justice… Either we “professionalize” the Africans or allow western, Asian civilians to take over - counting on the Western military is almost not the useful thing to do.
Obviously, we need to get rid of some of their despots first lest anything we do for Africa lands in the hands of ugly African monkey leaders and Darfour will simply multiply in Africa.
But really, there’s only so much the UN peacekeeping forces could do unless we recruit new troops (think of the cost too!).
To much diplomacy has killed more people. What we see is a castrated United Nations. The UN has ceased to exist. When rights of people are violated, the UN must move decisively and strongly. What we see is an inutile UN. Its high time we throw politicians out of the UN and replace them with advocates.
The UN is inutile. As far back as I can remember, it has been too slow at acting on issues like this. Instead of being an advocate, its been reduced to a political arena.