Conflict in Darfur, Sudan - The Mega Thread

[McG]

What jobs? Observers & staff officers?

 

[cbt arms sub tech]

Sounds like an observer team, its on the www.dnd.ca, press release's

 

[McG]

Every year there are a bunch of officers from across Canada (and from all three environments) that are trained as UNMOs and put on a year long stand-by list.  I expect some of the pers will be drawn from this list.  Other observers may be specifically trained for this mission at PSTC.

 

[291er]

I suspect that most will be attached to BGen Mitchell (Canadian Deputy Force Comd) in the Headquarters. 

 

[Kat Stevens]

Whoever goes, it"ll be 90% Ruperts, 10% baggage monkeys/drivers...IMHO, as usual

CHIMO,  Kat

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I'd love to be the monkey boy.

 

[bossi]

Whoever goes, it"ll be 90% Ruperts, 10% baggage monkeys/drivers...IMHO, as usual

[/sarcasm on] But aren't you forgetting the 143 CANCAP and PSP employees ... ha! [/sarcasm off]

In reality, it would seem that this group will rely on somebody else for most of their logistical support (much the same as UNMO's elsewhere, as pointed out previously).

As for the ISL (International Standby List) ... ha! (double "ha!")
Hopefully we're starting to use the ISL for it's intended purpose
(and not just for PER points ... oops ... I forgot to use the sarcasm button again ...)

 

[Edward Campbell]

Anyone who thinks that doing much of anything about or for Africa â “ especially sending Canadian troops and do-gooders armed with food baskets and toys â “ needs to consider that the (relatively) 'safe' and 'stable' parts of Africa re, also, social/political basket cases.

Consider this from the International Organization for Migration â “ a multinational do-gooder organization (see: http://www.iom.int/) of which Canada is a full member.

Ghana - Severe Toll On Mental and Physical Health of Trafficked Children

The high level of trauma suffered by children trafficked for forced labour into fishing communities in Yeji in Ghana, has resulted in major physical and mental health problems for the victims, according to IOM.

IOM has so far rescued 537 children who had been sold by their impoverished parents to fishermen in Yeji, on the northern shores of Lake Volta. In February 2005, a group of 107 children were rescued and have since spent time trying to recover from their ordeals in a rehabilitation centre in Accra before being reunited with their parents at the end of the month.

Although most of the children have now been declared medically fit to return home and attend school, they will all need a minimum of two years of constant medical evaluations and treatment to fully recover. The most severe illnesses affecting the children are bilharzia, malaria, amoebiasis and chronic eye, stomach and head ailments. In addition, there is evidence of post-traumatic stress disorders, reflecting the acute trauma the children suffered during their servitude. As a result, they will need extensive counselling.
Boys were often forced to dive into Lake Volta's muddy and dangerous waters to free tangled nets and worked extremely long hours to cast and retrieve nets. Some have died in the process and almost all were regularly beaten and poorly fed.

For the 430 children who have already been reintegrated into their communities, IOM will be running two mobile clinics to provide primary healthcare services. The trauma the children suffered is still having an impact on their physical and mental health and they will need counselling and medical assistance on a regular basis for some time to come.

IOM is preparing to rescue another group of children shortly, but there is no clear picture of the extent of child trafficking into fishing communities in Ghana. Upon IOM's request, UNICEF has committed to funding two baseline research studies on child trafficking in the Central and Volta regions, both of which begin in June.

This programme, which is carried out in cooperation with the Ghanaian authorities is funded by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) of the US State Department.

For further information, please contact
Joseph Rispoli
IOM Accra
Tel: +233 244 975250
E-mail: jrispoli@iom.int

From Accra to Zimbabwe, black Africa is a nightmare which is slipping, inexorably, into chaos.   HIV/AIDS will deprive black Africa of one or two generations of workers, thinkers, leaders, etc.   The consequences of this are too horrible to contemplate from the comfort of a quiet Canadian home on a warm Canadian spring morning.   But, consider this, from the BBC, (at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4424909.stm ):

DR Congo's atrocious secret

By Hilary Andersson
BBC Africa correspondent

Despite a peace deal signed two years ago to end the long-running civil war, violence is continuing in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. And in the province of Ituri, Hilary Andersson finds evidence of cannibalism by some rebels.

There is a part of the world where atrocities go beyond all normal bounds, where evil seems to congregate.

Almost everyone who has ever worked there will know where I am talking of.

The area is not very large on the map of Africa.

But the region in and north of the forests of central Africa has hosted Rwanda's genocide, the massacres in Burundi, the devastation of southern Sudan, the mutilations in Uganda, and the atrocities of the north-eastern Congo.

And so I had the usual feeling of dread when we flew into the area on this trip.

We left the acacia-lined, sunswept plains of east Africa and, as we approached, the sky began to darken.

We began to descend through black clouds that hugged the huge forests below.

We landed in a ferocious rainstorm in the small town of Bunia in the north-east of the Congo.

'Hole in Africa's heart'

The Congo is a vast territory, the size of western Europe.

But it has been called the hole in the heart of Africa, because much of it is a giant power vacuum.

In the north-east, at least seven warlords are locked in brutal scramble for personal power and control.

Lots of the fighters are children.

Rape is more widespread than possibly anywhere else on Earth.

And the war is not about any principle at all, violence has just moved in where there is no authority.

Mutilation

We visited a refugee camp set in a small valley, a piece of land like a basin.

Around its rims the United Nations patrolled to keep the militia out.

In an afternoon every person we spoke to, without exception, had witnessed not just killing but horrific mutilation.

The children had sunken, troubled eyes. The women looked exhausted and the men were bursting with what they had to tell.

Their relatives had their hearts ripped out, their heads cut off, their sexual organs removed.

This, it seemed, was the standard way of killing here.

Why?

You want to know why?

Yes there is war, but this is different.

This is not just killing, or taking territory.

It is deliberate mutilation on a scale that makes you reel with horror.

It reminded me of the atrocities in Bosnia, where at a certain point individuals turned into human devils, bent on doing not just the worst they could but the most atrocious.

Militia attack

We met a woman whom I will call Kavuo, not her real name.

To talk to her about her story we had to travel to a remote location in the jungle, where we could not be seen or heard by others.

What she had to speak of is an atrocity shrouded in secrecy here, an atrocity. It is taboo to even speak of it.

The events she told me about happened two years ago and hers was one of the first public testimonies of its kind.

Kavuo was on the run with her husband, her four children and three other couples.

They had spent the night in a hut, and got up in the morning to keep moving.

But they had barely left the hut when six militia men accosted them.

Kavuo and the women were ordered to lie with their faces on the ground.

The militia ordered Kavuo's husband and the other men to collect firewood.

Then the women were told to say goodbye to their husbands.

They obeyed.

The militia then began to kill the men one by one.

Kavuo's husband was third.

Her testimony is that the militia men lit a fire and put an old oil drum, cut into two, on the flames.

I will omit other details. But Kavuo says the militia cooked her husband's parts in the drums and ate them.

Beliefs perverted

Those who have studied the region say cannibalism has a history there but as a specific animist ritual, carried out only in exceptional circumstances.

What has happened now is that the war has turned Congo's society upside-down.

Warlords are exploiting this, and perverting existing beliefs for their own ends.

Fighters told us that those who carry out such acts believe it makes them stronger.

Some believe they are literally taking spiritual power from their victims. That once they have eaten, they have the power of the enemy.

These atrocities are also designed to instil utter fear into the enemy.

Anarchy

It is estimated that four million people have died in the Congo as a result of the long running war.

That is truly staggering. It is more than those killed by Cambodia's Pol Pot and more than those killed in Rwanda.

Most people have died of hunger and disease that the violence has left in its wake.

Kavuo lost four of her children to illness and malnutrition even before her husband was killed.

Now she lives in a remote village in the forest, and cannot afford to look after her surviving children.

If this is her story, imagine how many others are like it and the numbers begin to make a horrifying sort of sense.

As we flew out of the Congo, I could see the vast forests below, thick with trees, infested with malaria, and barely accessible. A huge area that few outsiders venture into an area where evils happen that are rarely reported.

The blood red sunsets, the streaks of black clouds a weird sort of echo.

Anarchy is not just a word.

In the north-eastern Congo we saw its reality.

What is happening there is proof of the scale of devastation that chaos can invite, and of the terrifying human capacity for unleashing deliberate evil on the innocent.
From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Thursday, 7 April, 2005 at 1100 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.

A little secret, well not really a secret, just something about which words are rarely spoken:   In country after country, throughout black Africa, the 'answer' is always the same â “ â Å“just several hundred, maybe a few thousand, less than 10,000 professional soldiers could solve this, that and the other problem and rescue the country."   That's probably true, but there are scores of countries so that means a few thousand times, say, 35 which means that the combined strengths of the Australian, British and Canadian armies would not come anywhere near 'solving' even half the problems.   Worse, even after the immediate 'problem' is solved by foreign troops there needs to be long term, very long terms, several generations long term change â “ without a shadow of a doubt, in my mind, imposed and supervised change.

Despite protestations, it is not clear that the Belgians were all that much worse than the French or Italians who were not too much worse than the British.   19th century Europe, in other words, did not do too much to help Africa cope with the 21st century.   There is no reason to believe that 21st entury Europe and America will do any better.

What to do?   Troops to Darfur?   Why?   What will they accomplish?   What can a few thousand under equipped, ill trained, undisciplined, miserably led African troops do?   What possible 'help' can a couple of dozen Canadian staff officers and instructors do?   Does anyone with an IQ higher than that given by the gods to green peppers really believe that our current commitment to Sudan is anything other than a cynical, pre-election, partisan political move designed to say: â Å“See?   We kept our promise; we're helping Africa.â ?   What immoral claptrap.

What to do?

Troops, certainly â “ let us, after we rebuild our own forces, work with a select few allies, totally outside the United Nations, to send task forces, uninvited, using only Pink Lloyd Axworthy's duty to protect doctrine, to selected countries to settle their internal disturbances and leave behind an Indian administration, supported by American, Australian, British, Canadian, New Zealand and Singaporean dollars, which will stay in place for something in excess of 50 years.   When three or four countries have been 'settled' then we can send task forces to others, leaving behind Pakistani administration, with more money from the Anglosphere.   By the time we have 'settled' about half of black Africa it is possible that more Asian and European money will be available and that a few other suitable supervisory powers will be on the scene â “ perhaps Egypt, China and Malaysia.   This is the work of decades, even centuries but I believe it is the only hope for Africa.

There is an alternative: we, the whole world, can do nothing - which is to say that we can continue as now.   Eventually we just wash our hands of the whole place and leave the Africans to their own devices.   That: savagry, chaos and collapse - what Stephan Maninger (in the long, three part article, above) called letting conflicts burn themselves out, which means accepting what Hillary Andersson saw, magnified and multiplied, may be the easiest, even the 'best' route for Canada.

 

[mover1]

who cares who is going.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Please see my (too lengthy) comments way down below in Politics just above.  Thanks, Moderators, for merging these two threads.

I, personally, do not believe that anyone â “ not in Canada and not in the UN, either â “ cares a wit for Sudan and no one, especially not Canada, is interested in preventing the Janjaweed from terrorizing the black people around Darfur.   Some people, a fairly small number, in Canada want to help, some, a subset of that small number, even want to help in a useful, effective manner.

Canada's current 'help' is a cynical, partisan political ploy designed to say, domestically, â Å“See; we did keep our promise!   We are doing something for Africa.â ?   That's rubbish, of course.   Our observers and the large contingent of accompanying public affairs staffers are there to provide propaganda for Bill Graham.

 

[BIGMAN]

Well, its official, most of our guys are out of Bosnia and now operation Athena should be coming to a close at its designated time in august. Now that thats all said and done where will we be going next? I just wanted to get your opinion because I'm just going through for officer and I kinda want to a general idea of where I might be goin in the future if I get sent over seas.

Personally, I think it might be somewhere in Africa, but thats just my opinion.

What do you think?

 

[Jc066]

I would not be surprised if the next bit of time is spent in consolidation, not just the army but the air force and navy as well.The politics of budget spending, coupled with the "Baby boomer bubble" that is in the early stages of un-winding is a very serious issue. Look at any demographic chart of the CF when it is ranked by age and Time in...Two BIG spikes at either end, thouse just in and those nearing the 20 mark. I think to any one that is unhealthy in terms of manpower issues and experience. Do I have the answers?...No
That being said, yes, Africa and some of the smaller "Banana Republics" are a good bet...If your a betin' man

My two and a half cents
Cheers

 

[BIGMAN]

Yeah I guess I never thought of that. It would be a good idea to build up for a year or two but some how I doubt the governments gonna let that happen. Its all cut back on spending but make more promises now adays.

 

[Edward Campbell]

In exchange for not voting to bring down the government, former Liberal MP David Kilgour appears to have secured a government commitment to do what, just a few weeks ago, it said it could not do: increase 'aid' to Darfur.


Here is what today's Globe and Mail has to say at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050506/DARFUR06/TPNational/?query=David+Kilgour (my emphasis added)

Ottawa planning greater aid role in Darfur

By JEFF SALLOT
Friday, May 6, 2005 Page A8


OTTAWA -- The federal government is ramping up a military assistance and humanitarian aid package to help the international peacekeeping operation in the blood-soaked Darfur region of Sudan.

Canada's top general has just returned from a fact-finding trip to Africa and is preparing an action plan for the cabinet.

General Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, said the Canadian Forces will be ready to deploy a large contingent overseas for "significant operations" by late summer after a year of recovery and rebuilding.

The Darfur situation, he said, "is a complex and a relatively dangerous environment and the tragedy that is unfolding there is on a scale that is very tough to determine."

Defence Minister Bill Graham said whatever the Canadian military does in Darfur, it will be in a support role to the African Union, which is in charge of the peacekeeping operation and whose member states will supply most of the ground troops.

"We'll be looking, from a government point of view, at every way we can help the people of Darfur," Mr. Graham said. "The military is part of the solution."

Prime Minister Paul Martin, whose minority government could face a no-confidence vote as early as next week, injected a note of urgency into the Darfur discussions, saying he will have an announcement in coming days.

The two-year-old Darfur conflict, which has already claimed about 300,000 lives, is "one of the most important tests as to how the West is prepared to come to the aid of Africa," Mr. Martin said.

He denied a suggestion that plans to help are motivated by Parliament Hill politics. Independent MP David Kilgour of Edmonton, whose vote in the Commons might be crucial to the Liberal government's survival, met with Mr. Martin this week to stress the importance of quick action in Darfur.

Mr. Kilgour, a former Liberal junior minister for African affairs, had just returned from his own week-long trip to the region. He said he'll decide how to vote on any no-confidence motion the day it comes, and how the government responds to the Darfur crisis is only one of the factors he'll consider.

Mr. Martin said he's not shopping for votes. He's been concerned about Darfur for some time.

The government has previously pledged about $20-million in assistance to the African Union, which includes the cost of leasing up to six helicopters to help AU peace observers get around the vast region. Canada also contributed thousands of helmets, flak jackets, and other bits of kit.

Gen. Hillier said he has 31 officers working with the AU on plans for Sudan.

Peacekeeping operations would extend over an enormous territory, the size of France, with few roads, airstrips or other infrastructure, he said.

The scale of the crisis is so vast, he said, "the people in theatre are still unable to wrap their arms around what is actually going on."

About two million people have been driven from their villages and are living in camps. Military forces are needed to provide security so that humanitarian assistance can be delivered, Gen. Hillier told a news conference.

Many living in camps find the conditions better than anything they had previously known in their villages. "They have enough to eat. They have some security. They have some medical care . . . and they have some schooling, in many cases for the first time in their lives."

The long-term challenge, international development agencies say, will be to build a lasting peace and provide tools for the people of Darfur to become economically self-sufficient.

The crisis is attracting the attention of young Canadians.

A group called Students Taking Action Now: Darfur has collected 10,000 signatures in about two weeks on university campuses and in high schools, urging the government to play a leadership role.

Ben Fine, one of the organizers, said the group will present its petition on Parliament Hill next Thursday.

While the Liberal Party of Canada has a vital interest in Darfur â “ the group called Students Taking Action Now: Darfur consists, largely of potential voters (you young people are far less likely to vote than we old fogeys) with an issue, I cannot see that Canada has any particular vital interest anywhere in Africa.

 

[supplyguy]

Yes, OP Athena will be closed, however, all we will be doing is transferring Camp Julien to Kandahar.
  Closing Bosnia (OP Boreas) completely.Which will make 2006 a busy year. With the opening of a camp in Kandahar and the possibility of Sudan (nothing confirmed as of yet). Hold on to your hat you will have plenty of chances to be deployed in the years to come.

 

[mover1]

remember the good old days when having a cypress medal or a Golan gong were the only medals around?

The good old days....PRE 1990, still had a cold war, Russia was our threat. The Equipment was "bad" but it worked and was on par with all of our allies.

 

[jc5778]

Yes, OP Athena will be closed, however, all we will be doing is transferring Camp Julien to Kandahar.
  Closing Bosnia (OP Boreas) completely.Which will make 2006 a busy year. With the opening of a camp in Kandahar and the possibility of Sudan (nothing confirmed as of yet). Hold on to your hat you will have plenty of chances to be deployed in the years to come.

Maybe you will but WE were told 2008  :crybaby:

 

[Pieman]

I wonder what the size of this operation is going to be? I just hope you guys are given everything you need to get the job done right and safely.


http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/05/06/Darfur-050506.html
OTTAWA - Canada is making plans to send troops to the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan by summer's end.

The head of Canada's military returned recently from meeting with leaders of the African Union peacekeeping force that Canadian units would support.

 
A refugee in a Darfur camp. 
"This is a complex and relatively dangerous environment," Gen. Rick Hillier told CBC News.

Hillier said he has more than 30 officers working on the project but was mum on the specifics until he presents several options this week to Defence Minister Bill Graham.

The minister wants military intervention to be only one part of an overall plan for the northeastern African country.

"We cannot invade Sudan. It requires United Nations action ... it requires political as well as military and aid matters," Graham told CBC.

The two-year-old Darfur conflict, stemming from the fallout of a peace deal to end the country's decades-old civil war, has driven about two million people from their villages to live in camps and killed 300,000 others.


INDEPTH: Crisis Zone: Darfur, Sudan

Canada has already marked $20 million in aid to the African Union, a continent-wide association of states that will lead peacekeeping in Darfur.

Peacekeepers must overcome the obstacles of few roads and runways in an area the size of France.

 
The Darfur region of Sudan. 
Prime Minister Paul Martin has pledged a greater Canadian commitment to Darfur and was expected to make an announcement within days.

He said Wednesday the conflict "is one of the most important tests as to how the West is prepared to come to the aid of Africa."

Martin met earlier this week with David Kilgour, a former Liberal MP who now sits as an independent.

Kilgour is a strong proponent of sending Canadian troops to Darfur. Kilgour and the prime minister denied the meeting was an attempt to prop up the Liberals' shaky minority government.

 

[Armymedic]

now operation Athena should be coming to a close at its designated time in august.

Lets not hang out hat on ISAF being done in SEPTEMBER when the parlimentry elections happen. IF they go the way the US wants and the people of Afghanistan have elected a parliment supportive of Karzi, maybe we will actually leave Kabul, to go on to a smaller PRT role in the south by Feb 06....That is if we don't accept the ISAF Command group, and just move back to Warehouse.

Darfur is definately on the radar screen...Iraq is pounding at our door for rebuilding....Haiti is still not there, and could reignite....

My feel for Sudan is alot of logistics in support of UA rifleman who will try to keep the peace....That is if China will let the western UN countries in.

No worries BIGMAN, you will get your tours.

 

[Infanteer]

Yes, we are definately in a growth industry....