Fact police.
Originally posted by Buddha 3
First of all, the Dutch peacekeepers that were brought up earlier in this thread did not turn their tails and left. It was the Dutch government which sent them in there with a lousy mandate. For some reason they had decided that they were supposed to keep the big, bad warring parties away from eachother (good move), but to do so, they shouldn't send any offensive weapons (what?). No tanks were sent in. The only Dutch armour that was sent to Bosnia was the YPR "Battle taxi", which had it's turret with 25mm Oerlikon gun removed and replaced with a .50 calibre machine gun armed cuppola, because they figured that the Serbs might take offense at the 25mm gun...(what what!?). For the rest, they were only armed with light infantry weapons, so when the Serbs came in with tanks and such, there wasn't much they could do about it, even though they tried, and some lost their lifes in the process. It was the Dutch government which tied the hands of the peacekeepers.
Okay people, continue your debate.
I wasnt really trying to slam the Dutch Jay..Your correct that 1000 Dutch raw recruits and basically unarmed,sent to keep the peace was quite ridiculous..My point was the Liberians arent screaming for the French's protection and was in response to the Somalia reference..I should have said why I think UN peacekeepers are worthless but I was lazy..But I will now
In Somalia,the US was there UNILATERALLY on a humanitarian mission under Bush Sr to stop warlords from stealing international food relief from a starving Somali population...Just 1 month into Clintons administration,The UN magically stepped into rebuild a Somalian state that that had dissapeared...
Within a few months the UN had US troops target a warlord stuck in the middle of Mogadishu..We all know what happened without having to rehash the story again..22 American soldiers dead...1000 Somali thugs killed..Pakistan refused to send tanks and heavily armored vehicles which were well at thier disposal..So what happened next you ask??Well Clinton withdrew the US military,and the UN mission collapsed..Go figure
..Soon after Clinton went before the UN General Assembly and stated the US would NEVER again put its military under UN command..Maybe one of his wisest decisions ever...
Now skip to Bosnia..Serbs,Bosnians,and Muslims are slaughtering each other on all sides with the Serbs being the worst offender..EU Nato countries put themselves under UN control again..There was no peace,just a raging war..So you would think the French,Brits,Dutch,and Pakistanis would either turn into peace enforcers ready to fight and take sides,or withdraw all together..Instead we got a farce in peacekeepeing..A few dozen half drunk Serb irregulars could could halt an armored column of Brits or French,humiliate them,imprison them in warehouses and prevent aid from reaching Muslim outposts..Paris,London,and Amsterdam refused US offers of airpower..So 30,000 French,Brits,and Dutch peacekeepers literally became hostages..From 1993 to 1995 we concentrated on rescue missions in case they had to be saved from either being executed by Serbs or other locals..
Then it gets worse..I wont rehash the Sbrenica massacre but that was the one with the Dutch..But I dont blame them..I blame the UN for not ordering airstrikes..After that Clinton,used massive airstrikes and within days,the end of the Serb offensive..The US then sent heavily armed forces in to keep the peace alongside the Brits,French,and Pakistanis..The Russians even tagged along but under US authority as they also wanted nothing to do with being under UN authority..So far the peace has held..
The French and Belgians under UN authority in Rwanda were withdrawn,rather than fighting the genocidal Hutu's and masscares occured...3.5 million have died in Congos civil war and the French idly sit by..
From Somalia,Rwanda,Bosnia,and othe places the UN has been worthless when it comes to peacekeeping..All they do is hinder progress and then run when any form of danger occurs..So people can hate Americas military might all they want,but when peace is needed,America answers the call...
Im done ranting as well