Where Praise is Due.
For all the darts I’ve hurled at Ambassador Bolton in the past, I think its time I send a laurel his way. Yesterday, Kofi Annan met President Bush at the White House. Before their sit down, Ambassador Bolton fired off a note to the Secretary General urging him to bring up the crisis in Darfur with the President. A letter of this kind is somewhat uncustomary , but it underscores Bolton’s determination to get the Security Council to re-engage Darfur in a more substantive way than it has in the past. Last week, for example, the Security Council unanimously agreed to a US proposal (pdf) to plan for the transition of forces in Darfur from the few feckless African Union monitors currently in the region to a more robust Blue Helmeted force that could be as large as 20,000 troops.
This is a good start. And so is Bolton’s rhetoric of moving “fast” and “far” on Darfur. Let’s hope he keeps it up
Could you check the US proposal link? I got a "not found on server" message.
Believe me, I'd like to see a plausible proposal for Darfur. My sense is that nothing major can be done until the transportation into the area improves, so both a peace force can be supported and there could be some economic development.
So far, the AU force has been supported mostly by airlift into El Fasher, flying, I believe, from Nigeria. The lift is limited both by the need for planes to carry the weight penalty of the fuel for the round trip, the lack of unloading and warehousing facilities at El Fasher, and the poor distribution network -- and again fuel.
While it is not as attractive as immediately going to work protecting refugees, I don't think the situation will improve much until some infrastructure is built, possibly by military engineering units that are used to building things fast. Unfortunately, people don't realize that Darfur is essentially far from everything,
Airlift from Khartoum would be much shorter, with a refinery immediately available. There is a poorly maintained and insecure railroad from the secure Sudanese rail junction at Babanusa, to Nyala in Darfur. Getting it operational and well patrolled could be a major step, with some of the first heavy lift being construction to upgrade the airport at Nyala and the dirt road to El Fasher, improve the capacity of the El Fasher airport, bring in rugged trucks and light military vehicles to protect them, and, above all, get fuel into the area.
Bringing fuel by rail from Babanusa is one possibility, always remembering that even light forces can hit tank cars or put explosives on track. There is also a controversial pipeline in Chad, controversial in that Chad doesn't want to provide oil and apply revenues as had been agreed with international economic organizations. Nyala isn't too far from the Chad border, and the French in Chad, who actually have been helping with the people displaced there, might play a useful role.
February 15, 2006 7:44 PM | Reply | Permalink