Scary Emotions

A couple days ago, I had some very disturbing emotions.  I started to feel grateful for (what I thought was) a team of Nepalese U.N. officers.  They came with us to the Boys Home to do a cost assessment for putting in water lines down the street and into the home.  They made some other assessments (repairs for the house, electricity, etc.), drew floor plans, everything.  As I watched them, I had to admit that I was impressed by their diligence and work ethic… but at the same time, I was disappointed because I had already made my stance on the U.N. forces.  Was I going to have to change my opinion?

Then came my lifesaver:  It was a case of mistaken identity.  These men were not U.N. Peacekeeping Soldiers.  They were among many engineers and professionals contracted by the U.N. to do all of the useful work that the U.N. does.  U.N. contracted engineers are the ones that put in emergency roads and bridges when half of the country was flooded.  This was also very impressive work.  They are not the same ones I see hanging out on the streets, guns improperly dangling on their backs as they harass Haitian women in broken English and chicken-pecked Creole.  All three were multilingual, at least one was at least trilingual, and between the three of them, they fluently spoke English, Creole, French, and Nepalese.  Far ahead of your average U.N. Squad.  Since the average professional contracted by the U.N. also complains of the U.N. Peace Force’s inefficiency, I liked them even more because we probably agreed on many things.  I know that’s shallow, but that’s often how we humans make friends.  Take a social psychology class.  Contracted engineers are often embarrassed of the blue uniform that they are “forced” to wear.

I recently sat and discussed the issue of the presence of the U.N. forces in Haiti with a few co-workers.  There were some positive points that they made that I am not afraid to acknowledge.  For one, it is very possible that their mere presence, regardless of efficiency, has prevented a great deal of rioting and political turmoil.  My rebuttal is that even if this is true, it gives rise to another problem.  The problem is if we need the U.N. for this security now, we may need them forever.  Why?  Because there seems to be no plan (or at least little progress) to transition into maintaining our own security.  If the mere presence of the U.N. Forces can create security, why not a well disciplined, well-trained Haitian military or expanded police force?  I’ve mentioned before that the average U.N. Soldier makes more than 10x as much as a Haitian police officer.  I imagine that if we could multiply our police force by 10x the amount of Peacekeepers in the land, we would be well on our way to maintaining our own security.

They say that Haiti cannot handle having a military.  They have a tarnished history.  If what I read in the news is true, the history of the U.N. Forces is not much cleaner than ours.  Our soldiers have abused our own people in the past, but so have theirs.  Sexually, physically, economically… Maybe Haiti isn’t ready for them to withdraw right away, but why don’t we start moving toward independence.  We declared independence more than 200 years ago, but we have never really had it.  Ever.  Ugghhh… I don’t feel like getting into it right now.  I may post more about the economic and miltary occupations of Haiti on another date, but for more on the U.N., just search “peacekeepers” in the search box to the right to find a few of comments from the past few years of the forces in Haiti.  My blood still boils when I see the blue helmets, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more people like my new Nepalese friends.

They’ve Done it Again

In case it didn’t make it into your Newspaper (it didn’t make it, I already checked NY Times Headlines):

Today, 110 (one hundred ten) U.N. Soldiers were sent home on counts of sexual misconduct with minors. It’s about time they fight some sort of corruption (from within). The first sad fact is that they caught 110. That’s a big enough number to say “Get the Hell out!” The worst sad fact is that this is only the number of soldiers that were caught and tried. There’s always those 487 that manage to get away… especially in a country with a broken down law-enforcement system. Might I mention, once again, a good friend of mine who was molested at gunpoint in a busy street? That soldier stayed around for awhile. Heck, the whole post was guilty that night but they were all back the next night.

Human Rights have asked for these men to be tried as criminals in their home countries. Well duh… what else are they? Heros? This is the worst crime possible. You are sent to a country to help stop corruption, but instead you take advantage of corrupt systems, encourage prostitution, take advantage of children, and rape women. Criminal is an understatement.  Unfortunately, many countries don’t take these crimes as seriously as the whole of the international community could have.  My opinion?  They got off too easy.  If you come as a servant of the international community, you should be judged and convicted according to international standards.  What do you think?