Annan Says Hard for UN to Mount Iraq Peacekeeping

[True_Blue]

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Sunday it would be hard for U.N. peacekeepers to replace U.S.-led troops in Iraq, saying the world body could make other contributions to postwar stability.

Asked if security operations in Iraq could eventually be transferred to the U.N.'s blue-helmeted peacekeepers, Annan said this posed a "real problem."

"Will the U.N. get the right troops, and the troops they need to go to Iraq to do the right amount of work?" he told a security conference in Munich, Germany.

"You've had a very robust presence. If it is going to be followed by a weak, ill-equipped force, it brings its own problems. But of course if the (Security) Council, in its wisdom, were to decide that we go this route, obviously we would have to consider."

Annan said "lots of countries" had said they would be willing to take part in Iraq peacekeeping if such operations were under a U.N. mandate.

more....
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-02-13T114343Z_01_N13597061_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-IRAQ-ANNAN-DC.XML

[LinuxInsurgent]

1. not gonna happen...

"Will the U.N. get the right troops, and the troops they need to go to Iraq to do the right amount of work?" he told a security conference in Munich, Germany.

What better troops than the American ones? For all the hoopla about Abu Ghraib, and their obvious insensitivity to the people there...they are still the most professional, best armed army in the world. If they can't do it, who can?

I'd say salvation in Iraq doesn't come from the U.S. or other troops...it comes from people who will take the mantle of enforcement authority and be able to look at the Iraqi people with dignity and respect...and treat them that way.

Whether that is Iraqis or other Arab troops...I don't know...but the U.N. is not the solution

and besides...the U.N. wants the U.S. to squirm and own up to their idiocy...why spoil this perfect moment to cement, for all history, the principle that nations do not have the right to unilaterally invade others? I'd say that this "punishment" is as much a part of the whole "policy venture" as making the decision to flaunt the law...as much as getting sentenced for a domestic crime is part of the judicial process.

Let the U.S. OWN their shit...and perhaps in the future they'll think twice about doing it again...and if they don't...let them OWN it again, and again, and again...until the American people tire of crying for their lost loved ones. At the end of it all...the best deterrent to empire is the reluctance of the Imperial subjects of being harmed in their personal lives. Moral appeals to the Empire have been ineffective.

[neweurope]

2. *applause*

-----------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[leesa]

3. What crap! The US is the CAUSE of the problems in Iraq. It is the US

who is the 'bad guy'. How on earth can they be the peacekeepers when they are the ones blowing up Iraqis, stealing their resources and murdering their citizenry for no reason at all.

"Most professional"??...My ass!

[LinuxInsurgent]

9. you misunderstand me

I'm the last person in support of the American army in Iraq...heheh...if you knew my background and past...you would not believe I was a pro-American activist. 'nuff said.

i agree..the U.S. is the problem in Iraq...everything you state is true.

And, regarding the professionalism...I meant that their training and weaponry is second to none. They are the best trained killers on the planet...I did not mean to insinuate that their professionalism was to the level that they don't act like total ignorant troglodytes with the Iraqi people. Obviously, they do..they are brutal Rednecks. The professionalism comment was directed to their purely military training...not personal discipline or ability to respect the population.

This all being said...I don't think the solution is to bring in the U.N. (read, European armies) into the equation...there's nothing a German or French army could do in Iraq that the Americans can't...anyone who thinks German and French units composed of young French and German soldiers, acting any better needs to take a look at French and Germand deployments in the Third World.

What I said was that either the Iraqis or culturally-knowledgeable (and palatable) Mid East Arabs could be asked to form the peacekeeping groups...that's why I opposed the U.N. coming in, insofar as peacekeeping is concerned. I wouldn't have a problem to Mid East organizations helping in reconstruction, under the funding and auspices of the U.N. i'm just against the idea of bringing EU soldiers as opposed to American ones...It's military foolish and it won't solve the issue of cultural ignorance.

[AndyTiedye]

6. Our Troops Don't Speak Their Language

Many of our attempts at "peacekeeping" have turned bloody due to an
inability to communicate.

[Igel]

4. Nope, not gonna happen.

Today lots of people say they'd participate under UN supervision. Tomorrow, with UN supervision, they'd all suddenly develop previous commitments.

And does anybody else find the sentence "But of course if the (Security) Council, in its wisdom, were to decide that we go this route, obviously we would have to consider" to be sort of like the CEO of a company saying "If the Board, in its wisdom, were to decide that we go this route, obviously we would have to consider"?

When I was on a board of directors if the CEO said that concerning a decision the board made she'd be read the riot act.

[applegrove]

5. Will the US pay the whole bill? Cause they broke it!!

[neweurope]

7. No they won't. Europe is alredy paying a lot while the profits will go

to the US. Like always...


-----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[applegrove]

8. I think BP has done some deals. The real trick is that if they

would open the boarders to Germans, Russian, and the rest of the world, Iraqis would be busy looking at so much money and 'new friends' that the Islamist stuff would fall to the waysie.

Just like christian values fall to the wayside as GOP and 'corporate citizens (the human leaders)' see more and more cash.

But you would have to be able to look beyond your own issues to see this. And big US oil is in control.

[LinuxInsurgent]

10. if this is true...

than Europe deserves the big dick up the ass..