Friday, November 09, 2007

UN to Mogadishu: help "neither realistic nor feasible"

Per The Austratralian News, corpses litter the streets of Mogadishu in the wake of Islamic jihadists battling the government and Ethiopian troops... dragged thru the streets in actions reminiscent of Blackhawk Down days.

And where is the UN? Our beloved int'l community that preaches daily about their significance in the world?

"Somalia is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in years and coping mechanisms of the population are stretched to the limit," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement released in Nairobi.

It condemned the dragging of corpses through the streets of Mogadishu this week: "These gross violations of humanitarian law as well as barbaric and inhuman acts have triggered new panic and movements of population."

And UN OCHA also warned that 10,000 severely malnourished children in Lower Shabelle were "at risk of death" without "desperately needed massive intervention."

In a bid to stem the violence, the African Union agreed this year to deploy 8000 troops to replace the Ethiopians in Somalia. But so far only 1600 Ugandan soldiers have arrived.

snip

In a move likely to dismay the interim government as it and its Ethiopian allies battle the rebels, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that sending UN peacekeepers to Somalia was neither realistic nor viable.

Insecurity had prevented the world body from even sending a technical assessment team, he said.



Okay.... they've identified a problem. Now what? Yet the UN is wise enough to know not to tread in areas where they've proven to be ineffectual decade after decade. Might have something to do with their laughable "rules of engagement" for peacekeepers. And add to that, NATO members are known for not honoring their troop committments, as we find in Afghanistan. Yet when the US holds up everyone's bargain for them, we are slaughtered in the media. Where is the logic?

Somalia has long called for UN troops to help it stamp its authority on the Horn of Africa country. It is the 14th attempt to forge central rule in Somalia, which has been in chaos since 1991 when warlords ousted a dictator.

"We accuse human rights organisations and the United Nations of keeping silent about the massacres the Ethiopians are committing," Hawiye elder Mohammed Hassan Haad said.

"We are unhappy with their decision not to send troops to Somalia, just when our country needs them most."



Well, depend on the UN, and unhappy you'll have to stay. Like Sudan/Darfur, it looks like you're on your own. Because you can bet your arse that a Dem controlled Congress won't be lifting a finger to help. Genocide and so called "civil wars" waged between governments and Caliphate jihadists are nary a blip on the progressive elitists radar.

US intervention aside, the true burning question is... of what value is the UN at all anymore but to posture and preach, and yet do nothing? Need some budget cuts? I'd say hold back the UN funds.

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