UN-Thinkable

It is not usually my place to dispute or debunk a guest columnist, but that is exactly what I have to do this week. Tom Moosbrugger’s column on Darfur, while exposing a critical issue as well as cataloging several infamous genocides throughout the 20^th century also made grave errors in judgment and several notable omissions. Moosbrugger’s implied course of action, letting the United Nations take care of events in Darfur, would in reality make matters far worse.

The United Nations, whose status ranges from international hero to all-powerful deity in the eyes of the left, has a miserable and atrocious history in intervening in human rights catastrophes. Take one of their most recent cataclysms (an event Moosbrugger omitted), Bosnia. While the country was under siege from Serb forces, the United Nations decided to extend an existing mandate in neighboring Croatia. The mandate established “safe havens” for Bosnian Muslims throughout the country. Thousands of petrified refugees huddled around the headquarters as General Philippe Morillon promised to protect their city as well as stay with them as a symbol of solidarity.

Six cities became “safe havens,” Srebrenica, Srajevo, Tuzla, Zepa, Gorazde, and Bihac. However, the safe havens soon became death traps as defenseless refugees made an easy target for Serb snipers. In 1995, Srebrenica was overrun by Serb forces led by Ratko Mladic, now one of the most wanted men in the world. When the Serbs came in, UN forces- the town’s supposed protectors- fled. Thousands of Muslims were slaughtered by the Serbs in one of the darkest moments in UN history. Powerless to stop the Serbs ten years ago, and just as cowardly to defend their territorial mandates as last year, when UN headquarters in Iraq were bombed, there is no indication that such operations would be any different in thwarting the Janjaweed militia now.

Flash forward to the present day, where UN forces in Burundi, Haiti, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing allegations of sexual misconduct. Over the past twelve years, UN peacekeepers have engaged in acts of rape, pedophilia, prostitution, and other atrocities in already volatile situations. Numerous attempts at reform and punishment over the years have failed to change the peacekeepers’ culture of sexual permissiveness. And these are the folks we want protecting already panicked and weary refugees?

The other course of action Moosbrugger hints at is letting the International Criminal Court get involved and try members of the militia for war crimes. He makes sure to point out that the United States opposes the ICC on the (very reasonable) grounds that Americans could be tried under the same charges for political reasons. Imagine the likes of the Bosnian Serbs charging our troops for war crimes. Furthermore, no sense of justice would be done against these murderers. Just look at how The Hague is dragging their feet with Slobodan Milosevic, who will most likely go scot-free for masterminding the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo. Additionally, many of Milosevic’s afore-mentioned henchmen- Mladic, Karadzic, and others- are still at large.

The events of ten years ago as well as the events of today should serve as a very dark and stern warning to anyone believing the United Nations can make things better in the Sudan. The situation in Darfur cannot be solved as simply as sending in UN peacekeepers or even US troops. It is clear some sort of action is necessary, but it is always prudent to first think before you act. Otherwise the cry of “Never Again” may become more and more frequent.