THERE are still many who believe that a United Nations military force could replace the American-led troops supporting the Iraqi Army and police. The principle is good but the practicalities are not. One of the largest current UN military deployments is the 13,000-strong multinational force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where last week nine Bangladeshi troops were murdered by militia men.
Yesterday the UN struck back. A Pakistani contingent backed by helicopter gunships attacked the base of this particular militia, apparently killing some 50 of its members. There is a grim satisfaction among UN troops that their comrades have been avenged but in truth, this blow against the assassins is likely to have little more than a temporary effect.
As a state in which the rule of law exists, the Congo long ago fell apart. It is almost saying too much to describe the armed gangs that roam the countryside, preying on each other as well as on innocent citizens, as “militias.” In reality they are bloodthirsty criminal thugs. They press young men into their ranks and are run by mafia-style bosses who enrich themselves with millions of dollars of “taxes” extorted at roadblocks from travelers. If a person refuses to pay, he or she is gunned down.
Symptomatic of the massive challenge facing the UN troops in their attempt to bring order to this lawless land is the way in which these roadblocks are dismantled and the gunmen melt away into the countryside whenever a heavily armed UN convoy comes along. As soon as the coast is clear, the criminals re-emerge and resume their thieving pastime of robbing travelers.
In sharp contrast with the Congo, there are some 133,000 foreign troops in Iraq, of whom some 110,000 are American. Washington dominates the command and control structures which have often proved a weakness with multinational forces created under UN auspices. Unlike Congo where the danger comes largely from thugs, the authorities in Iraq are confronted by diehard Saddam loyalists, Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists and criminal gangs.
Despite this week’s deadly attack in Hilla which resulted in the highest number of casualties in a single incident since the war ended and the murder yesterday of one of Saddam’s judges, there is evidence that the coalition forces are slowly getting on top of the insurrectionists. It seems clear that the Iraqis and their US supporters are now mastering the intelligence brief so essential to breaking the insurgency. Weapons seizures and arrests such as those that took place in western Baghdad on Monday are little reported but are becoming increasingly frequent. The insurgents are far from broken but it appears their power is slowly being eroded. This is not a job that a well-meaning multinational UN presence, however large, can undertake. The UN’s role in Iraq must rather be to boost its civilian and infrastructural support for the transitional government and do its level best to keep the Americans honest.
