[Newsbot]

Title: Half polled prefer peacekeeping-only soldiers
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: WDHIII
Date: 2009-09-21 08:01:48
Canadian

[mikewood86]

Oh brother....

That's fine and all, once we have peace we can keep. Getting peace sometimes means fighting for it.

"You end by saying you personally cannot envision that peace can ever be paved with military offensives. May I suggest to you that in many instances in history peace has been achieved exactly that way.

The gates of Auschwitz were not opened with peace talks. Holland was not liberated by peacekeepers and fascism was not defeated with a deft pen. Time and time again men and women in uniform have laid down their lives in just causes and in an effort to free others from oppression." -Rick Mercer

[Akhenaten]

The Article The Article:

That Canadians cling to the image of their soldiers as peacekeepers is something that grates on the military and its supporters, who argue the era of standing in between warring factions largely ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That and the fact that UN peacekeeping keeps a conflict dragging on about as often as it ever provides any solutions.

A lot of good peacekeeping and the UN did for Rwanda.

[Guy_Fawkes]

Polls are bullshit over half of people know that.

The main issue is that your adverage Canadian knows little or nothing about thier military, and is not willing to exspand their knowledge about the subject. Those that due usually pick an opinion that supports their own bias and cling onto it.

[BartSimpson]

Soldiers are not peacekeepers. If peacekeepers is what Canada wants then they need to send cops overseas when they want someone to maintain law and order.

[sandorski]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

The Article The Article:

That Canadians cling to the image of their soldiers as peacekeepers is something that grates on the military and its supporters, who argue the era of standing in between warring factions largely ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

That and the fact that UN peacekeeping keeps a conflict dragging on about as often as it ever provides any solutions.

A lot of good peacekeeping and the UN did for Rwanda.

Rwanada was an exception. Cyprus is an example of a successful Peace Keeping mission.

[Akhenaten]

$1:

Cyprus is an example of a successful Peace Keeping mission.

I disagree 100%. Cyprus is a prime example of peacekeeping perpetuating a conflict instead of ending one. Cyprus already had a peace agreement, remember? But the UN said "that's not good enough" and went in there to establish a new one. result? We're still there and the conflict that was resolved remains unresolved. In the same vein as Kashmir and the Golan Heights

Cyprus is not an example of peacekeeping done right, it's an example of peacekeeping keeping a conflict going long past it's due date.

Rwanda is not an 'exception', Rwanda is only one of many examples. How about Somalia?

[PublicAnimalNo9]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Soldiers are not peacekeepers. If peacekeepers is what Canada wants then they need to send cops overseas when they want someone to maintain law and order.

THis goes right along with that post you made about how many Canadians were shocked to learn that Canadian soldiers are actually killing enemy soldiers.
I guess they figured we are there handing out cookies and juice.

What would be real interesting would be to see the cultural or racial cross-section of those that were polled.

[martin14]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

$1:

Cyprus is an example of a successful Peace Keeping mission.

I disagree 100%. Cyprus is a prime example of peacekeeping perpetuating a conflict instead of ending one. Cyprus already had a peace agreement, remember? But the UN said "that's not good enough" and went in there to establish a new one. result? We're still there and the conflict that was resolved remains unresolved. In the same vein as Kashmir and the Golan Heights

Cyprus is not an example of peacekeeping done right, it's an example of peacekeeping keeping a conflict going long past it's due date.

Rwanda is not an 'exception', Rwanda is only one of many examples. How about Somalia?

Bosnia ? UN safe areas...

[Akhenaten]

$1:

For example, the United Nations has maintained an average of 6,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon since 1978 to restore peace and security to the area before turning it over to Lebanese authorities. Seventeen years, 200 peacekeeper deaths, and billions of dollars later, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is no closer to that goal than it was in March 1978.(22) The UN force was neither structured nor intended to force a peaceable solution. As noted earlier, peacekeeping doctrine dictates that the responsibility for a political solution rests principally with the belligerents. Even when it becomes painfully obvious that a solution is not forthcoming, however, there is typically no exit strategy for UN forces.

UN interventions tend to gather irresistible momentum. If a mission cannot succeed in its original mandate because of the noncooperation of the local actors, new reasons are sought to justify the intervention. In Lebanon, as in Bosnia, the UN force is now principally kept in place to administer humanitarian aid--a mission it was not meant to perform but gradually assumed throughout the 1980s. Now supporters of the Lebanon operation argue that the UN force cannot be withdrawn because it has "been sucked into the economic and political fabric of the wider society in which it operates and of which it has become an integral part."(23) UNIFIL injects $45 million into southern Lebanon annually, and its supporters argue that its withdrawal would cause economic collapse and heightened conflict. UNIFIL is now part of the problem, not part of the solution.

link

[martin14]

hmmm we forgot East Timor, with Indonesian militas running around.

Needed the Aussies to go sort that one out.

[ridenrain]

Akhenaten Akhenaten:

$1:

Cyprus is an example of a successful Peace Keeping mission.

I disagree 100%. Cyprus is a prime example of peacekeeping perpetuating a conflict instead of ending one. Cyprus already had a peace agreement, remember? But the UN said "that's not good enough" and went in there to establish a new one. result? We're still there and the conflict that was resolved remains unresolved. In the same vein as Kashmir and the Golan Heights

Cyprus is not an example of peacekeeping done right, it's an example of peacekeeping keeping a conflict going long past it's due date.

Rwanda is not an 'exception', Rwanda is only one of many examples. How about Somalia?

I was thinking the same thing.

I think the main thing here is how the forces have been shown to Canadians. It's clear that anyone who knows anything about the forces knows their not cops or peace corps.
Past governments have continued to reduce the size while increasing the tempo of these perpetual UN missions. They can tout that we're flying the flag and working for peace but the reality is their degrading the forces from their actual purpose.

NONE of these UN missions is ever resolved. Even N/S Korea is still "active" and that's the best example.

[Newfy]

I think that is one of the biggest problems with some Canadians. They've gotten to used to the Canadian Forces doing peacekeeping missions and so they think that's all they should be doing. A soldier cannot live on peacekeeping alone.

[EyeBrock]

Was there ever a successful UN mission?

[Smacle]

Newfy Newfy:

I think that is one of the biggest problems with some Canadians. They've gotten to used to the Canadian Forces doing peacekeeping missions and so they think that's all they should be doing. A soldier cannot live on peacekeeping alone.

I think the problem is that people think soldiers will stop dieing if we only do peace keeping.