From Washington to Timbuktu America's `warrior diplomats' deploy

[dArKeR]

around the world.

REUTERS , TIMBUKTU, MALI
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004,Page 16

Lying in the sand, their AK-47s trained on some scrap metal and cardboard cut-outs, the Malian platoon held their fire as three donkeys stumbled into the kill zone.

"There are burros in my line of vision," an American voice crackled over the radio. "We don't want to kill nobody's livestock."

The elite US Special Forces who have been teaching Timbuktu's 512th Motorized Infantry Company to destroy enemy camps like to be thought of as "warrior diplomats," culturally sensitive and a cut above the rest of the military.

In the inhospitable terrain of the Sahara Desert, bouncing across the dunes in a Land Rover chasing stubborn donkeys out of danger is the least they can do for the local economy.

But many Tuaregs -- light-skinned turban-clad nomads who have lived and worked in the desert for generations -- say the presence of US troops threatens both their livelihoods and a delicate balance of power in the Sahara.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2004/03/30/2003108481

[jean]

1. The phrase "watch your ass" takes on new meaning for these diplomats

[izzie]

2. Well the Romans were there and so were the Brits, So ????

Empires will be Empires and do what they do. Maybe we will sink back to the 13 we started with also.