Annan pushes Bush on US troops for UN Darfur force

[ECH1969]

UNITED NATIONS - The United States should contribute troops and equipment to a planned new U.N. force designed to stop the killings and rape in Sudan‘s Darfur region, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday.

Annan said he would press President George W. Bush President George W. Bush on the issue when the two meet on Monday in Washington, along with expected discussions on Iran , Iraq and the controversy over cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad.

Underfinanced African Union troops are now the only bulwark in Sudan against marauding militia and rebels, with some 7,000 monitors and soldiers on the ground. The U.N. Security Council U.N. Security Council this week authorized Annan to draw up contingency plans for U.N. peacekeepers to go into Darfur.

"They will have to commit troops and equipment, or if they don‘t want to do it, help us find the troops and equipment to be able to undertake the mandate they give us," he said.

http://www.newsone.ca/piercelandherald/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=139595

[applegrove]

1. Go Annan, go Annan, go Annan ! n/t

[rodeodance]

2. will we take out a brutal government?

[winston61]

3. reality check to Annan

there ain't no oil wells in Darfur.

[applegrove]

4. Yes - there is oil. Just discovered in the West. Why the ethnic cleansing

& civil war. Because there is oil in them there villages. Sad but true.

[ECH1969]

7. Yup

[ECH1969]

5. Sudan certainly has oil

But, trying to get it out of an ethnic warzone is damn near impossible.

[Igel]

6. I don't think the US should send troops.

Money and materiel, sure. But not troops.

Like that's going to happen. It would take many months to work out, and assume that France and China can back off their oil contracts with the government. It's not like it's only the US that puts commercial interests over morality.

We don't need the added bad PR of attacking a shari'a-keeping Arab government when the area we're "defending" has oil reserves; we don't need the inevitable photographs and stories, true or false, in or out of context, of the kinds of screw ups that'll come in dealing with black refugees or citizens when our troops are stationed there--the first time some soldier rapes a local girl or a local boy gets beaten up for any reason, it's trouble. And don't try to say if you get 5000 soldiers in one place there won't be rapes or brawls. If the food supply's mucked up, it'll be intentional. People have developed a zero-tolerance zero benefit-of-the doubt attitude. With mostly white US soldiers versus black non-traditional Muslims, or Arabic-speaking but still frequently very dark skinned traditional Muslims, we'd be Crusaders x Klansmen.

We don't need the press that would come from a shootout with Janjaweed almost indistinguishable from the black non-traditional Muslims that they're attacking. We kill a group of them, but, gee, they're not in uniforms and their buddies took their guns: voila, instant massacre of unarmed black, or nearly black civilians. However we define "black" in this case.

Russia has troops. China has a mess of troops. Indonesia's got a reasonable army. Let them be the ground-pounders.

[Telly Savalas]

9. The U.S. sending troops would dampen support for the mission

around the world. What might otherwise be perceived as a well-meaning peacekeeping mission could be viewed as another imperialist escapade by Commander Cuckoobananas if U.S. troops were involved. This could potentially have the effect of fewer countries wanting to get involved for fear of domestic political backlash.

And hell...I wouldn't trust Bush not to mess it all up.

Sending money and supplies would be the right thing to do though. It could very well happen too. Things like this typically aren't viewed in partisan terms so support could come from both sides of the aisle. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Congress last year pass legislation to throw some money at this?)

The main obstacle at this point would be the perception of such support being fiscally irresponsible in light of the budget crisis Bush foisted upon us.

[HuffleClaw]

8. annan should simply call what is happening TERROR

that'll perk up georgie's ears. or better still, tell him there's OIL there.

[Charlie Brown]

10. No foreign wars

Let's solve the world's problems without using force, for once.