Goma and the Failure of the UN

A Uruguayan patrol in the Congo. Look at those nice, easy to spot blue helmets!

As I'm sure many of you are aware, M23 rebels recently seized, and relinquished shortly thereafter, control of the Congolese city of Goma. Now, given the poor shape of the Congolese army, and the fact that this group was likely supplied by Rwanda, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Congo's army contingent routed as the 1,000 man rebel force came pouring into the city.

However, what is shocking, is that the UN force assigned to protect the city, roughly 1,500 men out of the 19,000 man force stationed in the country, retreated as well. What's worse, is that this UN force was modernized and supported by gunships, tanks, mortars, and artillery. Apparently, the commander there felt as if he should leave if there was no Congolese force to support, and just let the rebels march into the city, flag in hand. Hardly seems like the never-say-never attitude of the besieged Irish force deployed to the Congo in the 60's, fighting until they ran out of ammo after their camp was attacked.

Of course, maybe we shouldn't sit here, baffled by the actions of the superior UN force? Peacekeeping forces deployed by the United Nations have had a long history of routing in the face of combat, due to a potent combination of an unwilling force and asinine rules of engagement by the upper echelon of the United Nations.

For example, remember the Bosnian genocide back during the mid 90's? Dutch troops retreated from their positions without firing a single shot when the Serbian Scorpians came into Bosnia, some even surrendering. The Serbian paramilitants then took the uniforms from their prisoners and fooled hundreds of civilians into thinking they were UN peacekeepers, luring them into mass warehouses where they would gun the poor souls down.

I guess, though, this might have worked out in the United State's favor. The Dutch were quick to jump into combat operations in Afghanistan, yearning for chance to redeem themselves after their shameful performance in Srebrenica . But that's neither here nor there.

In any event, I wrote this post partly out of anger. A classmate of mine was arguing earlier today that the UN is more than capable of playing world police. Never mind the fact that the UN is NOT the League of Nations, and is intended to be a convention where nations utilize diplomacy before war, not to be the police commissioner of the world's problems.

Oh well, what you think about the current situation developing in the Congo, and the abysmal performance of the UN peacekeepers there?

- Tom