Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Haiti and UN Troops
Haiti has lost America's attention again. Since we don't hear much about conditions there, it is easy to assume all is proceeding well with a UN police force installed in the country. Unfortunately the UN police force seems to be as ineffective as it has been in Bosnia and other crisis situations. Recently a middle class Haitian I know emailed me that he had been shot at by "bandits." He immediately called the UN police force who according to him did nothing. They just continued to sit in their beach front rooms like tourists waiting for the time to pass, drinking and looking for entertainment. Peter Sellers, where are you when we need you?--send in the troops from Grand Fenwick immediately.
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3 comments:
Hmmm....I'm intrigued by your profile. SO, are there any places in the world in which the UN is accomplishing something worthwhile?
I really like the Universal Declaration of Rights, the founding vision statement of the United Nations (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html). Obviously it is always a challenge to live up to any statement of principles and the quality of leadership is critical. Every organization is shaped by its leaders and the values of its members. It would be interesting to compare the leadership of Bunche and Hammerskjold with the likes of Kofi Annan. There is a need for a place for nations to talk and debate. Some issues might be better resolved in community discussion as opposed to state to state negotiations.
The May 23rd New York Times online edition has an article "UN Forces Using Tougher Tactics to Secure Peace."[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/23/international/africa/23congo.html?th&emc=th] According to the article: "The United Nations, burdened by its inability to stave off the mass killings in Rwanda in 1994 and by failed missions in Bosnia and Somalia, is allowing its peacekeepers to mount some of the most aggressive operations in its history." It appears as if we might be seeing a new, more effective trend in UN peacekeeping efforts. I trust the UN has learned from its past failures. Perhaps this will lead to less emphasis on sending NATO, French, or US troops to a crisis.
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