In a story he clearly worked hard to create, ace agenda-ist Geoffrey York in Johannesburg singles out Canada for not helping the UN peacekeeping force with helicopters. What about the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden etc., etc., etc.? Then there’s Portugal, eh? None of them seems to want to anwer the call either:
UN’s plea for helicopters in Congo going unheard
Struggling to contain a horrifying epidemic of mass rapes and murders, United Nations peacekeepers in Congo say they desperately need one thing above all: helicopters. But more than 50 countries – including Canada – have failed to help…
The Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement Tuesday that Canada deplores the violence against civilians, particularly the ongoing sexual violence against women and children, and continues to strongly support efforts to strengthen the rule of law to promote accountability for such crimes.
Canada carefully considers any formal requests from the UN to provide support to specific peace operations on a case-by-case basis, it added. Unfortunately, Canada was not in a position to support this particular request due to other operational commitments, it said…
In 2008, the UN Security Council authorized an additional 18 helicopters to be deployed to Congo. More than 50 countries, including Canada, were contacted by senior UN officials to see whether they could provide helicopters, according to a UN official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Only two countries – Bangladesh and Uruguay – answered the call. They provided three helicopters, leaving the UN with a shortfall of 15 aircraft. That shortfall will increase dramatically as one of the biggest contributors, India, has already withdrawn nine helicopters since June and is set to withdraw another 10 by early next year…
As for “other operational commitments” see Task Force SILVER DART, engaged in another mission mandated by the UN Security Council:
Why ain’t that commitment to the UN good enough for Mr York? I mean the CF are pretty stretched, and the Air Force’s support for the force in Afstan is getting rather more difficult (imagine how easy it would be also to support a few choppers in the heart of darkness).
Meanwhile the NY Times has aimed its Congo fire at the right target–the UN itself:
UN Peacekeeping: The Gray Lady’s outrage
Mark
Ottawa
[...] pretence to being a paper that separates news from opinion. It is an agenda-driven (more here and here) media something or other. So be very wary when you read its [...]
[...] where Mr York advocates that the government deploy the CF? He is in effect merely expanding on an earlier story he largely created himself: The Globe and Mail’s stinking agenda, Congo [...]