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US millions fund S Sudan army; worries over abuses
Only six years ago the Sudan People's Liberation Army was a ragtag group of guerrilla fighters battling a bloody civil war with Sudan's north. Next weekend, when the south breaks away and becomes the world's newest country, the SPLA becomes a national army.The U.S. is investing tens of millions of dollars into this fledgling military, one that is massing troops on the internal north-south border as tensions -- and violence -- with the north rise. SPLA troops are battling rebel militias in hotspots around the south, and fears of renewed war with the north remain high. U.S. Sen. Patrick "Leaky" Leahy, who sponsored a law that prohibits the U.S. from giving assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights, says he is concerned about reports of abuses. This while North Sudan invades the oil bearing parts of South Sudan and ethnically cleanses non-Muslims. Well done Sen. Patrick "Mr. Magoo" Leahy. That's different. We aren't giving money to them. It's much more important for our hands to be pasty-pink clean than it is to help a new country pull itself together. Cheez, anyone could see that. The State Department is giving nearly $100 million in yearly assistance to train and support the SPLA, and it says it is monitoring the behavior of the former guerrilla fighters. Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-07-04 |
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