Thursday, August 05, 2004
10:33 pm
Darfur: An Intervention Too Far

How the Chief of Staff expected to summon more resources from the exhausted British army to pander to Blair's crippling need for "moral" action is a moot point. After Hoon's reforms, the ability of the armed forces to project force anywhere for a generation will be severly undermined, unless a hot war reverses the decline and neglect of the government. Nevertheless, the call for the deployment of British troops was taken up by the Tories, as they demonstrated further evidence of their intellectual retreat:

John Bercow, Tory international development spokesman, warned yesterday that diplomatic efforts were "too little too late".....

Mr Bercow, asked on the BBC's Today programme how soon he thought troops should be deployed, replied: "I think within a matter of days if there is not demonstrable evidence of improvement. Unless there is evidence of real change, I believe that international action in the name of humanity is needed." Mr Bercow, asked on the BBC's Today programme how soon he thought troops should be deployed, replied: "I think within a matter of days if there is not demonstrable evidence of improvement. Unless there is evidence of real change, I believe that international action in the name of humanity is needed." Mr Bercow, asked on the BBC's Today programme how soon he thought troops should be deployed, replied: "I think within a matter of days if there is not demonstrable evidence of improvement. Unless there is evidence of real change, I believe that international action in the name of humanity is needed."

In the past, a call for the deployment of troops, lay in the remit of the Defence Minister, Foreign Minister or Prime Minister. Such an action was only considered if the national interest appeared to be endangered. If such actions were open to interpretation, the underlying motive from the matter of state was national and patriotic. Now, John Bercow, Shadow Secretary for International Development, acting as one of the "bedblockers" to the innovation that may reinvigorate the Tories has called for intervention in Darfur on the grounds that 'we have the tools and people are dying'. There is a Blairite tradition of this activity in British history, and the Tory's anal fixation with the 'centre', has led them to seek the approval of the Liberal Democrats and NGOs.

Darfur is a revolting case of state sponsored violence in a complex maelstrom of culture, ethnicity and language. However, if this were genocide, which is the group targeted - the Darfurians perhaps, or the blacks. Whilst the United States may view this episode through the distorted mirror of race, culture and language appear to be the common division with black nomadic Arabs, the result of intermarriage, attacking the black tribes, mainly farmers. All could easily turn on an outside force as the xenophobic thrust of fundamentalist Islam channels their reactions. All of these complexities raise the risks for any force deployed as peacekeepers. Yet, in shades of Rwanda, the French are in town, casting a raptor's eye over their interests:

On Sunday French troops began to secure Chad's border with Darfur as part of their mission to aid relief efforts to refugees.The WFP has started airdropping food supplies to remote areas of Darfur and French troops stationed in Chad are airlifting relief aid to refugees on the Chad-Sudan border.On Sunday French troops began to secure Chad's border with Darfur as part of their mission to aid relief efforts to refugees.The WFP has started airdropping food supplies to remote areas of Darfur and French troops stationed in Chad are airlifting relief aid to refugees on the Chad-Sudan border.

The French act under a veneer of humanitarianism, but their forces ensure stability in the border region, a status quo that reduces the risk to oil exploration in the region.

(23.07, 5th August 2004)

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive