More than 400 U.N. peacekeepers stormed into a Port-au-Prince slum on Wednesday, in an ongoing effort to halt violence from armed loyalists of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. At least two men were killed, officials said.I applaud the UN for trying to do something to stem the violence coming from the slums.Gunfire crackled from at least four prolonged shootouts between armed men and U.N. troops in the seaside Cite Soleil shantytown, said Lt. Col. Jorge Smicelapo, military spokesman for Brazilian troops leading the U.N. mission.
Two problems, however. Reading the full article, the UN provides no specific reason as to why they went in and who they were after. It was a general "stem the violence" raid. Also, the UN isn't being consistent in their actions. If they really want to become a deterrent to violence, they cannot just act decisively from time to time. They need to be clear about what actions will trigger retaliations and in general when and how the UN will act. Otherwise, the UN troops will simply breed greater resentment.
The Brazilians are new at this type of operations. Further, UN peacekeeping missions do not have much history performing the types of offensive operations necessary in Haiti. But with elections coming, these excuses become less and less viable. The UN needs to get it's act together on the security situation.
(Gringo, hypocrisy, Iraq, blah, blah, ya, I know... It doesn't get the UN peacekeeping force off the hook just because the US doesn't always get it right either.)
2 comments:
Actually what needs to be done in Haiti is for the "police" to stop targeting only the pro-Aristide side and for Latortue's "government" to show that it is not mobbed up with the ex-FRAPHists.
Fat chance of that happening.
I guess ending deathsquads is a good policy too...
It's actually a good lesson in why you don't want to rush the training of security forces in Iraq. When they're not well vetted and trained and you set them off on their own, they end up being like the guys in Haiti.
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