Ireland in Chad: are they ready?

[Prestwick]

Oo-er:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7221632.stm

I understand that Ireland going to Chad as part of a European Union peacekeeping force, completely seperate from the naughty French force whose role is to blatantly prop up the Chad regeime, but despite insisting that the Rebels won't mistake EUFOR for THE FRENCH, they probably will anyway in a deliberate attempt to make things as unstable and thus as difficult for Chad and the EU as possbile.

Now, I was wondering, is Ireland really ready for an assignment like this? This is a long way from annoying the British in Cyprus or writing stern letters to the Israelis in the Lebanon and it could get very, very nasty, especially considering that the rebels in Chad are backed by Sudan and that fighting from neighboring Darfur crosses regularly crosses the border. What has the reaction been in Ireland to this deployment?

 

[An Tarbh]

Irish peacekeepers are more than experienced enough to deal with a situation like this, they've been in worse situations before and don't have any major screwups to their name as far as I'm aware. I've never seen anyone questioning Irish peacekeepers before so I don't see what you're getting at. It's the French who are to be questioned rather than the Irish, I can't imagine the locals welcoming them with open arms.

 

[Prestwick]

I'm not questioning the Irish here but considering that the rebels will probably associate you with the French by the mere fact that you share the same skin colour and religion amongst other things. I'd refer to the Canadians in Somalia in the early who were tarred with the same brush as the Ameicans by locals despite their very robust record in peacekeeping. You should never assume that the people are going to be automatically on your side, especially when the locals will be under influence by rebel groups which are funded and supported by Sudan and are there to cause as much trouble as possible

As such, this is going to be radically different to a usual UN Peacekeeping and I disagree, this could be much worse than the Irish have experienced if there is any more heavy fighting.

What I'm getting at here is that small forces spread across large, very volatile areas whose populace may not care what colour beret you wear present very attractive targets for guerilla forces. I think the British, Danes, Dutch & Canadians have all learnt that in Southern Afghanistan. The Irish and the special forces are capable of any task, but one hopes that they don't fall into a similar situation where they are confined to several fixed fortified locations in small numbers at the mercy of roving bands of rebels armed with mortars and Chinese rockets.

 

[An Tarbh]

Given the experience of Irish peacekeepers in the Congo previously I'm sure they'll have been well prepared for what lies ahead. More recently they've had stints in Somalia, the Lebanon and Kosovo and been well able to handle the situation. Every mission is presented with its own unique set of challenges and the troops heading out there will be well aware of that but there's no reason to suggest they won't be able to handle it. As far as I'm aware the Irish peacekeepers generally take a much more hands on approach with the locals and earn their trust that way and given that the commander of the mission is Irish I would imagine that they'll take a similar approach.

 

[Prestwick]

I hope so, the nightmare scenario will be if they are spread out too thin across long distances like 3 Para were in Helmand province in 2006. That was slightly different however because of the political pressure by the Afghans for the British to hold multiple police stations and other compounds across the province in small numbers.

On another note, it'll be nice to see how those Ford pick up trucks the Irish Ranger wing use will fare in the Desert. If the LRDG can drive 1930s Chevvy trucks through sand dunes then anything is possible!

 

[Maccaweeny]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...ry_expenditures

Well at least it's at a higher state of readiness than Serbia, Georgia and New Zealand

 

[redunderthebed]

I dont think its going to happen because the rebels have taken over the capital i believe.Considering the last president came in a revolt much like this one i think that its going to be a vicious circle coup and revolts. <_<

 

[Steve-o]

And now the situation in Kenya has gone pear shaped as well, with political unrest (isn't that always the case) and opposition leaders being assinated. Not to mention the 500-odd people who died last week. Sudan and Somalia border Kenya so god knows what's gonna happen there. Central Africa has gone to ****. Again.

Peace keeping forces are either gonna be neck deep or in over their heads. That's a pretty large area now.