18. februar 2006

Bush: Time to provide muscle to Darfur operations Extremely overdue, I'll say, President Bush has stated that NATO will have to step in to provide some muscle to the grossly inadequate African Union 'peacekeeping' operation to Darfur. President Bush signaled a new American commitment on Friday to addressing the crisis in Darfur, saying he would support an expanded role by NATO to shore up a failing African peacekeeping mission there. Mr. Bush also said he favored doubling the number of peacekeepers operating in Darfur under United Nations control, as proposed by the Security Council last month. He discussed Darfur, in western Sudan, as an offshoot of a question about the fate of children in war-ravaged northern Uganda. "I talked to Kofi Annan about this very subject this week," Mr. Bush said, referring to a meeting with the United Nations secretary general. "But it's going to require, I think, a NATO stewardship, planning, facilitating, organizing, probably double the number of peacekeepers that are there now, in order to start bringing some sense of security. There has to be a consequence for people abusing their fellow citizens." I'm sure even the famously overstretched US military will be able to provide logistics and maybe even some troops for Darfur, but I'd like to know where the rest of the troops should come from. Britain is even worse stretched in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the smaller NATO partners are also very low on ability for such operations. The only exception may be France. Undoubtedly our eastern European allies can also provide some support. I can't imagine any significant political opposition to this in Europe. Sudan and the Arab would is another matter entirely. PS: Earlier coverage of the failing AU mission. 6:23:29 PM    comment []  trackback []

Join al-Qaeda for 3 weeks vacation and a nuclear dream Two West Point studies explore al-Qaeda as an organisation, showing it is remarkably similar in some ways to any other organisation. "The corporate culture appears to be similar to other modern organizations," the study states. Indeed, some of the documents used by researchers indicate that al Qaeda has vacation plans -- seven days every three weeks for married members, five days a month for bachelors -- and provides its members with 15 days of sick leave a year. One document states that al Qaeda operatives must request vacation 10 weeks in advance, and another document outlines the pay scale for members: about $108 a month for married members, less if they're single and more if they have more than one wife. The Harmony documents, some of which date back to the 1970s, when Islamists tried to overthrow the secular government of Syria, "also reveal a high level of arrogance and intense ambition" common to jihadist groups, the study states. "While the theology may seem reactionary, the organization insists on using modern management principles as well. Instruction is provided on applying information technology, manipulating the media and researching the use of nuclear weapons for the cause of jihad." Somebody let me know if these studies are actually available online. Update: Bill Roggio has a lot more on the released documents. 3:17:21 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.03.2006; 16:50:41.