WikiLeaked U.S. Cables Paint Portrait of Brutal, Ineffectual and Polluting UN Force

[EFerrari]

Source: Haiti Liberte

United Nations forces occupying Haiti were poorly trained, spied on student groups, impaired elections, and recklessly shot, killed and wounded hundreds of civilians, according to secret U.S. diplomatic cables.

In one “astonishing” case, according to the cables, UN troops fired 28,000 rounds in just one month in a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince known for resisting the UN occupation and the February 2004 coup that ousted democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

“Civilian casualties in Cité Soleil … from 100 wounded in October <2005> to between 170 and 205 in December <2005>,” wrote then Chargé d’Affaires Timothy M. Carney in a secret Jan. 19, 2006, cable. “Half of these are women and children. Assertions that all were used as human shields strain credulity.”

Just six months prior, acting under intense U.S. and Haitian elite pressure, 1,400 UN troops sealed off the pro-Aristide slum, firing 22,000 rounds and causing dozens of casualties in just one six-hour night-time raid on Jul. 6. UN troops continued their attacks throughout the year, at one point firing an average of 2,000 rounds a day, one UN official told a reporter.

Read more: http://www.haiti-liberte.com/archives/volume5-10/U.S.%20Cables.asp

[Demeter]

1. What were you expecting?

GI Joes with gum and chocolate for the kiddies, respect for the women, and compassion for injured? Building plain but sturdy houses for the homeless, distributing food and medicines?

That's SO last century.

[formercia]

2. "1,400 UN troops sealed off the pro-Aristide slum"

I think there was a hidden agenda in play here.