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Africa Horn
UN requests tactical US air support for Darfur
2006-03-04
The United Nations is asking the United States and other nations with big militaries to provide tactical air support for an ill-equipped African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region.
'Other nations with big militaries'? Who would that be?
With the security situation deteriorating on the ground, the AU force will need more international support in the coming months, even if its mission eventually is to be taken over by a U.N. force, Annan wrote U.S. Ambassador John Bolton in a Feb. 23 letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

At the U.N. Security Council's request, Annan has begun planning for a shift from an AU force to a larger and better equipped U.N. mission for the troubled area. But Sudan has begun lobbying AU states to reject a changeover to a U.N. mission from the AU force, which numbers about 7,000 troops and is known as AMIS.

Under pressure from the Khartoum government, AU foreign ministers at the last minute put off for a week a planned Friday vote to invite the United Nations to take over.
Then they'll put it off for another week. Annd then another.
Even if the shift is approved soon, Security Council members and U.N. planners say it could then take eight to nine months to assemble and deploy the new force.
As opposed to the 82nd Airborne, which can put a brigade anywhere in the world in 24 hours.
In the interim, AMIS must get the international help it needs to keep functioning, Annan told Bolton. "Given the continued and serious deterioration in the security situation in Darfur, the support to AMIS should perhaps include the provision of new and additional capabilities including close air support," he said. "I would be grateful if governments in a position to provide such capabilities at short notice could consider this possibility," Annan said.

U.N. officials said Annan was referring to a need for combat helicopters and their crews. Although his letter did not directly ask the United States for the helicopters, Annan counts it among the countries able to provide them, they said.

Washington has declared the conflict in Darfur to be genocide and has pushed hard for rapid U.N. deployment there. A resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate on Friday urged President George W. Bush to take swift action in Darfur.

Annan has repeatedly called on wealthy nations such as the United States to contribute more than just money to an eventual U.N. force in Darfur. But the Bush administration has yet to say what it could provide beyond help with the planning.
If they would let us run it and leave our hands unbound, I could think of ways of solving the Darfur problem rather quickly ....
Posted by:Dan Darling

#12  Lol, C-Low.

The camel's nose.

No. Never, again.

Posted by: .com   2006-03-04 21:53  

#11  Also, do not forget absolute immunity from the ICS or no deal. That is the biggest danger of any of these UN "requests", that they are being used as a backdoor method to get the US into the ICS.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-03-04 16:46  

#10  I don't know, I think it would be appropriate to send in a dozen AC-130 "Spectre" gunships, with F/A-18 fighter protection, for a few months. It would only take one two-ship mission to teach one large group of Jangaweed that they're not the "greatest fighting force on Earth", and that their Allan won't protect them from real firepower. That seems to be a lesson the entire Arab world needs to learn, and consistently fails to grasp. Of course, I'd insist the rules of engagement be established by the Pentagon, not Turtle Bay, and that operational control be assigned to the local US commander. Otherwise, this has possibilities.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2006-03-04 16:15  

#9  Alaska Paul, yep, you can have the catered spread in a week, but the five star resort will take a little more time. You don't expect them to be in tents, do you?
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2006-03-04 16:10  

#8  
s.b. Cessna
Posted by: Master of Obvious   2006-03-04 16:08  

#7  
I have a Cesna 172 and a Marlin .22 rifle. I can be wheels-up in about an hour.
Posted by: Master of Obvious   2006-03-04 16:07  

#6  "...other nations with big militaries...governments in a position to provide such capabilities...countries able to provide them...called on wealthy nations..."

Just come out and say it Byii-aatch.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2006-03-04 11:31  

#5  Security Council members and U.N. planners say it could then take eight to nine months to assemble and deploy the new force.

Not only do these UN guys have no shame, but they do not have a clue. I am somewhat clued in on logistics, not an expert by any means. But I could easily have a fully catered spread over there in a week. I do not see what the problem is.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2006-03-04 11:21  

#4  Maybe Chavez could loan them his shiny new Russian choppers. That is if they can still fly.
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2006-03-04 09:48  

#3  Call the EU and tell them it's their golden opportunity to do something more than bloviate.
Posted by: DMFD   2006-03-04 09:27  

#2  US responce "Blow ME"
Posted by: C-Low   2006-03-04 09:01  

#1  The United Nations is asking the United States and other nations with big militaries
Posted by: 6   2006-03-04 08:55  

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