http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/6089273.htm Seriously, FUCK THE UNITED NATIONS!! You fucking sackless buraeucrats are responsible for the MURDER of two men. And you wonder why we won't contribute troops to most of your piddling peacekeeping missions. You can't even take care of your own men--one of the reasons you wouldn't land the helicopter to rescue them was because of UN bylaws that state you couldn't do so without permission from the very same tribe of thugs and warlords that murdered them! Col. Daniel Vollot, the leader of the "peacekeeping" mission who refused to rescue these unarmed men despite clearly having the ability to do so, is guilty of criminal negligence and possibly manslaughter and should be court-martialed and thrown in jail but he will most likely be at worst promoted or at best quietly removed and given a cushy civilian job in the UN. These men should not have been there in the first place and they should have been rescued when they called for it. The United Nations is DIRECTLY responsible for their deaths. And altho it only says this in the print version of the article and not the online version, no prizes for guessing which country with a fine military tradition Col. Vollot hails from.
Alex, I understand your concerns. The event you refer to is awful. Also, aren't Libya and Cuba on the UN Human Rights Commission? That's bad. That is rewarding dictatorships and groups who violate human rights. But instead of abandoning the United Nations, we've got to help make it better. We can and should play a more proactive role than we have been playing in terms of trying to improve the UN. The UN offers great hope in terms of helping people bring about a more peaceful, democratic world.
Remember the courageous impotence of the UN in Bosnia? It took a lot of guts to put your men on the line in a notorious killing zone without support without a manadate for doing anything other than bending over every time the Serbs came knocking. The continued vision of those self-same UN troops handcuffed as hostages is so pathetic I can't even think of anything funny to say about it. It's like making fun of some old lady who has tipped over in the crosswalk while carrying her groceries.
Charitable and supremely confident France/UN Yeah, the French are interested in helping people: http://slate.msn.com/id/2084371/ "The Guardian reported that based on a French military briefing paper it obtained, the new force 'will have a negligible impact on tribal conflict.' According to the document, 'France has no specific interest in the area except solidarity with the international community.'" "Referring to the U.N. peacekeeping force long stationed in Congo, the paper ["L'Eveil" - DR-Congo] said the impression thus far is that foreign troops have come for tourism—'to loot the country's resources, to dance and drink champagne, to sleep with our daughters' then to leave when their time is up. 'The Congolese people don't need that.'" Nope, not cynical at all. ------- The French photo-op in Bunia: http://www.gweilodiaries.com/archives/001137.html#001137 "A European military planner who was issued a copy of the French document said: 'This is the most cynical military briefing I've read in my entire life. Everybody is just laughing at it.'" "A brief patrol by the French troops yesterday made the mission's modest ambitions apparent. Four jeeps packed with infantrymen drove 200 metres through the town centre, accompanied by as many western journalists. For 20 minutes groups of children sang for the cameras, then the troops rolled back to their airport base." "Drop in, generate a little internationalist propaganda, then get the hell out of town and let the slaughter resume." ------- Bungle in the Jungle - Old Boys Network: http://tinyurl.com/e97z ------- http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap06-14-125248.asp?reg=AFRICA "I don't know why they are here", said Jan Mol, a Dutch priest who has lived in Bunia for 15 years. "It's just show."