by Eeben Barlow
I felt I ought not to write something when I am filled with anger, but to say I am absolutely and totally disgusted would be an understatement.
The uncontrolled actions by South Sudanese troops on 11 July 2016, within close proximity of the increasingly useless and ever-incompetent United Nations Peacekeeping Force, resulted in multiple rapes of foreign aid workers, along with a looting spree and murder. One shudders to think how they treated the local population…
After winning a battle in Juba, the South Sudanese troops celebrated their victory with an uncontrolled four-hour rampage through a popular residential compound preferred by foreigners. One aid worker was allegedly raped 15 times…looting and stealing was the order of the day along with the murder of a journalist. These despicable actions are indicative of an undisciplined rabble posing as soldiers who have no understanding or knowledge of what the mission of the armed forces is.
Not surprisingly, when the UN peacekeeping force stationed approximately a kilometre away were begged for help, they refused to even respond. Several embassies were also called on for help, but they too did not even bother to react. Perhaps they did not want to infringe on the ‘human rights’ of the out-of-control soldiers?
I consider the lack of action by both embassies and the UN to be a display of spineless cowardice of the highest order, and nothing else. If the UN ‘peacekeepers’ are unable to protect non-participants, then what on earth are they doing in Southern Sudan let alone in Africa?
This is also merely another example of the folly of forcing the ‘balkanisation’ of a country and then allowing it to implode. I am sure President Bashir—he of now simply ‘Sudan’—is smiling at the incompetence and lack of control that has now become the norm in another state that was set up for failure.
I wish for the day when African governments realise that the UN’s so-called ‘Peacekeeping Department’ has NO desire to keep peace. Their inability to perform their function has been proven time and again across Africa. Instead, it is a United Nations sanctioned ‘occupying force’ that continually turns a blind eye to atrocities committed against the vulnerable.
Instead of acting as their name implies and assisting the innocent, they cower behind their barricades like spineless creatures and watch rape, looting and murder take place.
Yet, despite a seriously blighted track record littered with failure after failure, the UN still continues to convince African governments that it is needed, and that it is a ‘successful’ organisation. To reinforce this bluff, they are probably going to increase their force levels and of course, their budget. This will imply that governments must ‘pay more for less’—a corrupt business model if ever there was one.
One only has to look at the gross failure ‘peacekeeping’ has become in DRC. If peace was measured by the amount of peacekeepers and the size of the budget, DRC ought to be a very stable and peaceful country. Sadly, that is not the case.
But if our governments wish to turn a blind eye to this grossly disgraceful incompetent organisation of incompetents, then they will have to suffer the consequences. Equally sad is that the ‘world’ watches and says very little to nothing. But watching these atrocities happen and saying nothing is silent complicity in this gross violation of all that is supposedly humanity.
One also has to wonder who trained these scumbags. It is obvious that they are lacking in any type of training befitting a peacekeeping force as they have yet to yield a positive result anywhere in Africa. Where does the UN find its particularly cowardly dirtbags who make up the misnamed ‘peacekeeping’ forces?
In the not too distant past, commanders who watched atrocities being committed and did nothing to stop them or intervene were considered to be complicit in the atrocities. They were charged with war crimes… Not so the UN.
They will probably claim they were unable to stop the rampage, call for a ‘special UN investigation’, and insist on an increase in ‘peacekeepers’ along with a massive increase in their budget. And when they finally run out of Southern Sudan, they will hail it another great success story.
The so-called UN ‘peacekeepers’ are nothing other than an international disgrace and the perpetrators of these atrocities should, by all rights, face trial for war crimes.
POSTED BY EEBEN BARLOW’S MILSEC BLOG
Discover more from Africa Unauthorised
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Thank you for your very valid comments Joe.
I think we also need to consider that many foreign NGO’s provide organisational cover to intelligence operatives. Also, the warring factions are backed by several foreign powers. This mess simply burns any potential broth that may have been expected. Ultimately, S Sudan is a mess created as a result of the Balkanisation of Sudan, the installation of a puppet president, the puppet president refusing to play ball, and now the backing of a new potential puppet president – all of this for control of S Sudan’s hydrocarbons. Having been there and witnessed first-hand the mess it was gravitating towards, I realised that as long as bad advice is given under the auspices of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’ (which it never is) S Sudan will remain a mess. Of course, the UN sees this as a perfect opportunity to increase its impotent and dirty footprint. If ever peace arrives in S Sudan, neither the UN nor the countless NGOs will be required there. So what we see happening is good for business – even though it sometimes backfires on the role-players. That is merely considered to be ‘collateral damage’.
there are several issues here that spring to mind. First is that aid organisations should not place their people where they cannot provide a security umbrella for them — after all the instability of the res is well known ( which is why the aid workers were there in the first place) So it is gross irresponsibility of the organisations to allow the safety of their people to be compromised like this and they should be held accountable in an international court. The article was written by Eeben Barlow who is well versed in the provision of the security umbrella required and the services needed by the aid workers from his kind of organisation are readily available. Then secondly, the provision of aid to regions like this only prolongs the continuation of the disaster — if allowed to implode on their own these regions would soon cease to be able to function after all the citizenry has perished of famine and disease. Sending aid has proven not to cure the ill but only to prolong the agony. So the sooner all the aid workers are pulled out and evolution allowed to run its course the better for all the neighbouring countries. Propping up of failed societies like this flies in the face of natural evolutionary principles. The phoenix can only rise from the ashes……
I totally agree with you regarding your comments about the supposed “U N Peace keeping force”. They have never stepped in to help anybody, you just have to think back to Rwanda!!! They are an absolute waste of precious money, money that could be used for a lot of other more deserving organisations.