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Africa North
UN: No offensive in Mali until next autumn
2012-12-08
Because it is not the purpose of the UN to actually do anything.
The U.N. peacekeeping chief said Friday he doesn't expect a West African-led military offensive to oust al-Qaida and extremists from northern Mali to begin until September or October of next year.

Herve Ladsous said experts have told the United Nations that before a military operation takes place Mali's army needs to be retrained. Once that happens, another issue will be the rainy season, which should be over by next September, he said.

That will likely disappoint those, especially in Africa, who say an African-led military intervention in northern Mali is urgently needed to keep western Africa from becoming a hotbed of terrorists and drug traffickers.

There is wide agreement that swift action is needed, but
...they called the U.N. instead...
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and others say the key to successfully reuniting the country is political reconciliation, and military action should be a last resort. The U.S. and the European Union want the Malian army and African troops to be properly trained before they try to retake northern Mali.

France is expected to circulate a draft U.N Security Council resolution early next week that would authorize the training of the Malian army and deployment of an international force. France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud has said the resolution will promote two tracks - military and political - and will include benchmarks and regular reports to the Security Council to assess the force's operational capabilities.
Posted by:tipper

#3  And here I thought UN is offensive year round.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2012-12-08 14:34  

#2  By the time the UN actually does something about 'global warming' (scare quotes!), the next ice age will have started.

Given that roughly half of the member nations are run by villains, thieves and scoundrels, the inability of the UN to accomplish anything can be regarded as a feature and not a bug.
Posted by: SteveS   2012-12-08 13:29  

#1  experts have told the United Nations that before a military operation takes place Mali's army needs to be retrained. Once that happens, another issue will be the rainy season, which should be over by next September

Then it'll one again be time for the glowball worming conference, the Durban conference, the debate when the 40-story mosque should be built on the grounds of the UN headquarters, et cetera...
Posted by: Pappy   2012-12-08 13:18  

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