> Just by way of a reminder, I'll state that 'peace-keeping' is a misleading
> fictional term. 'Peacekeepers' are professional soldiers, no more; they
> behave no better than combatants in civil wars or invasions, which is to
> say, many of them kill, rape, torture, steal, etc. indiscriminately,
> including the civilians whom they are supposed to be protecting. According
> to the following article by Barbara Crossette, U.N. 'peacekeepers' were not
> even ordered to 'abide by international laws protecting civilians and
> governing the conduct of soldiers in war' *until August 12, 1999*! And
> keep in mind that Annan's executive order has *zero* enforcement power.
Note, by the way, that in a African-origin trade magazine on arms and military systems, the Somalia intervention was referred to by a US soldier as 'peace enforcement'. I think this is a very illuminating term.
Peter
-- Peter van Heusden : pvanheus at hgmp.mrc.ac.uk : PGP key available 'The demand to give up illusions about the existing state of affairs is the demand to give up a state of affairs which needs illusions.' - Karl Marx