Europe - get your act together!
Once again the Middle East is at the centre of events! To solve the problems for good something very new and politically courageous has to happen. See my previous Blog.
But here and now Europe has a fantastic possibility to play a crucial role in keeping the very fragile peace. The UN has (for once) been able to produce a solid mandate for a peace-keeping force. Everybody seems to be happy. Until the "bill" arrives. Altogether 15.000 troops have to be in place - the sooner the better.
Personally I cannot believe it. Most nations have for years reorganised their armed forces to be able to solve immediate problems by sending troops well trained and well equipped for that sort of situations. European countries have more than 1 million troops at disposal. EU and beyond.
Now, the isssue is if and when we are able to send 15.000 soldiers to a key area very close to us. So far (after two weeks) only 3.500 soldiers have been promised - and they are not even there yet.
Europe - get your act together. Get these troops in place within a couple of weeks. In this situation it is a question of keeping the momentum. A peacefire is in place. Now WE have to show responsability. Perhaps others must take over later on. But here and now: GO THERE. AND DO THE JOB!
But here and now Europe has a fantastic possibility to play a crucial role in keeping the very fragile peace. The UN has (for once) been able to produce a solid mandate for a peace-keeping force. Everybody seems to be happy. Until the "bill" arrives. Altogether 15.000 troops have to be in place - the sooner the better.
Personally I cannot believe it. Most nations have for years reorganised their armed forces to be able to solve immediate problems by sending troops well trained and well equipped for that sort of situations. European countries have more than 1 million troops at disposal. EU and beyond.
Now, the isssue is if and when we are able to send 15.000 soldiers to a key area very close to us. So far (after two weeks) only 3.500 soldiers have been promised - and they are not even there yet.
Europe - get your act together. Get these troops in place within a couple of weeks. In this situation it is a question of keeping the momentum. A peacefire is in place. Now WE have to show responsability. Perhaps others must take over later on. But here and now: GO THERE. AND DO THE JOB!
posted by Niels Jorgen Thøgersen at 3:57 pm
2 Comments:
I agree. The EU must put actions to the word. Personally I believe it is the time for EU to find our own answers to global challenges and especiellay to those close to our borders. These days gives to many similarities to the thirties where the democratic powers in Europe could not find a way to face the challenges from the then big nazi regime.
A real peace force in Libanon is what is necessarry right now.
Later it could be necessarry to find a way to avoid a WWIII which is all too close. The threats are there from especially Iran and other states in the Middle East.
No europeans want a war there.
To avoid this a real commitment to the peace forces are necessarry.
No persons in their right mind would intervene and put themselves between the warring parties in the middle east. The risc is overwhelming that they are then seen as protectors of Israel, who are rightly considered by the arabs to be the great villain, and the odd and alien entity in their area.
Without Israel there, there would not have been 4 wars,2 intifadas and 3 invasions by Israel into Lebanon, where 17.000 lebanese died following the 1982 invasion, something I personally at the time was not aware of (who at our newspapers and electronic medias restricted me from this information?) Thankfully due to new forms of communications, aggressors cannot get away with attrocities as easy as they could before...
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No foreign army have survived in Lebanon without getting serous scars . The last NATO force that tried was literally blasted out of its mission in 1983(then called the MNF, the Multinational Force) with 243 US and 58 french troops killed.
Italian ,french and german forces have been happy nervertheless to deploy, perhaps in order to avoid the more dangerous Aghanistan.
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