|
Donât count on regional forces, send the Marines
Long but interesting piece in the International Herald Tribune about the near-worthlessness of the peacekeepers coming to Liberia. Too long to post here in full, but Iâve excerpted some key paragraphs.Counting on regional forces to bring peace to Liberia without substantial American participation is a mistake, one that will likely come with tragic consequences. As the UN human rights officer in Liberia in 1995 and 1996, I had the misfortune to witness the last round of West African peacekeeping in the country. At the time, the regional coalition forces (then called Ecomog) supported and armed an ever-growing list of ethnically based rival rebel factions. The theory was that these factions would thwart the biggest rebel, Charles Taylor, from taking power by force. The tactic backfired. ... As a result, the war degenerated into a bloody stalemate and the chaos of a failed state. Almost every citizen was displaced by the war amid a mind-bending series of torture and cannibalism cases. By my calculation, one in every six women had been raped. The regional coalition forces managed to do considerable damage at the tactical level, too. The State Department reported that soldiers not only engaged in the systematic looting of small, easily transportable goods, but even shipped entire buildings for scrap to be sold abroad. (In the field we had an additional name for Ecomog: "Every Conceivable Moving Object Gone.") UN officials reported observing Nigerian forces, which made up 80 percent of the coalition troops, at the port of Monrovia trafficking in narcotics. ... Peacekeeping forces were also responsible for sexual violence. In 1996, my colleagues and I investigated - and confirmed - reports of child prostitution. And these are our peacekeepers of choice in Liberia today. The lure of regional forces for peacekeeping operations is understandable. Regional forces, the thinking goes, have significant advantages over their international counterparts: Theyâre more likely to understand the society theyâve entered, they have a stronger interest in bringing security to their own neighborhood, they are more willing to absorb casualties, and they are relatively inexpensive. But the last decade in Liberia should show us that these theories can crumble the minute they are tested in battle. If U.S. forces are active, their professionalism will raise the bar considerably for everyone. Competence breeds — or at least inspires — competence. Witness Sierra Leone. The initial Ecomog and UN arrangement was on the verge of failure until a very small force of approximately 1,000 British soldiers arrived in 2000. Since then, the situation has stabilized... Of course, the responsibility is not Americaâs alone. The United Nations needs to go public with its oversight, reporting on the actions of the soldiers sent to Liberia in a vigorous manner. It should place greater emphasis on fighting corruption. And it should fully detail the horrifying extent to which rape has been used as a weapon during the last 14 years. Washington hailed as an achievement the arrival of a seven-member U.S. military team in Monrovia last week. To those familiar with Liberiaâs civil war, it is a failure. More than 2,000 marines are on ships just off the Liberian coast. In a short time, they could be working with African troops to put an end to a crisis that is getting worse by the day. Holding American soldiers back in deference to a regional force that has been demonstrably brutal and misguided is a grave mistake. And itâs certainly no cause for celebration. He saw what the Nigerians, et al. did last time so itâs hard to argue against him. I still donât like having our troops in Liberia. Posted by: Steve White 2003-08-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17533 |