Intervention in Somalia Sets Bad Precedent, Study Finds
Gerald Olchowy
>
>
> Intervention in Somalia Sets Bad Precedent, Study Finds
>
> Washington, DC -- The U.S. military intervention in Somalia is the
> foreign policy equivalent to bungee jumping -- a risky undertaking for
> which there is no compelling need -- warns Ted Galen Carpenter, director
> of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, in a new Cato study.
>
You make it sound like it is only the Americans who are in Somalia...
many other countries are there with the Americans including Canada
and the French...when the US participates in a multilateral effort
with UN and broad international support in a humanitarian relief
mission...it is hardly a dangerous precedent. And in this case,
the US was only helping to clean up the mess in Somalia it was
partly responsible for.
> Proponents of U.S. action in Somalia view it as the prototype of U.S.
> foreign policy in the post-Cold War era: military intervention for
> purposes other than the defense of America's security interests. If the
> United States abandons its own security as the standard by which to
> decide whether to use force, there is virtually no limit to the arenas
> in which American lives may be sacrificed.
>
The way to stay out of trouble is to make sure the international
community is on board, and several reputable countries and allies
come with you...that is why Somalia is not a dangerous precedent...
the US risks dangerous precedents only if it acts without international
and allied support and participation.
> If American troops remain in Somalia for any significant period of
> time, Carpenter says, they will be seen, as they were in Lebanon, as
> meddlers with their own political agenda. They will become the targets of
> sniper fire and other guerrilla tactics.
>
Canada has been in Cyprus forever...the bad thing that typically happens
in such situations is that both sides get on to living peaceably with
no pressure to come to an ultimate resolution...with the peacekeeping
forces then sort of coming an obstacle to resolution. Compared to
other places Canadian peacekeeping forces have been, like in Sarajevo,
last year, Somalia is a relatively safe place. In Somalia, the rules
of engagement are also much more liberal for a peacekeeping mission...
the UN and US forces can take preemptory actions against the parties,
which makes it much safer for the peacekeeping forces, which in other
places usually have much more restrictive rules of engagement.
> Carpenter concludes tht the American people should reject the policy
> the Somalian intervention represents and that U.S. leaders should never
> again allow American troops to be used as the hired gus of the U.N.
> Security Council.
>
US leaders risk getting into trouble internationally when they act
militarily unilaterally, rather than in cooperation with their allies
and the UN...
Gerald
Ed Ipser
Intervention in Somalia Sets Bad Precedent, Study Finds
Washington, DC -- The U.S. military intervention in Somalia is the
foreign policy equivalent to bungee jumping -- a risky undertaking for
which there is no compelling need -- warns Ted Galen Carpenter, director
of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, in a new Cato study.
Proponents of U.S. action in Somalia view it as the prototype of U.S.
foreign policy in the post-Cold War era: military intervention for
purposes other than the defense of America's security interests. If the
United States abandons its own security as the standard by which to
decide whether to use force, there is virtually no limit to the arenas
in which American lives may be sacrificed.
If American troops remain in Somalia for any significant period of
time, Carpenter says, they will be seen, as they were in Lebanon, as
meddlers with their own political agenda. They will become the targets of
sniper fire and other guerrilla tactics.
Carpenter concludes tht the American people should reject the policy
the Somalian intervention represents and that U.S. leaders should never
again allow American troops to be used as the hired gus of the U.N.
Security Council.
"Setting a Dangerous Precedent in Somalia" is no. 20 in the Foreign
Policy Briefing series published by the Cato Institute, an independent
public policy research organization.
Available from:
Cato Institute
224 Second Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
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Sean Merritt
The following article is interesting but, it neglects one fact...
US intervention in Somalia started well before the troops were
sent. Think about it where did all those guns & ammo come
from in the first place?
From the Dec '92 issue of Harper's <<Harper's Index>>
Rank of the United States, among all countries, in arms sales to
Somalia since 1985: 1.
Is there some basis for accountability or not? Is it ok to sell
weapons without regard for the impact/harm they may cause.
Is this good business policy? Foreign Policy?
Americans should have rejected the selling of arms to Somalia
in the first place. We are partially at fault for the situation
that has developed because of these sales. It is correct and
just to try to rectify the situation.
-sjm
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In article <C29u9...@newsserver.technet.sg> ip...@solomon.technet.sg (Ed Ipser) writes:
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mer...@macro.bu.edu |and farm cats in the spring." T. Waits
Gary L Dare
>ip...@solomon.technet.sg (Ed Ipser) writes:
>>
>>
>> Intervention in Somalia Sets Bad Precedent, Study Finds
>>
>> Washington, DC -- The U.S. military intervention in Somalia is the
>> foreign policy equivalent to bungee jumping -- a risky undertaking
>
>You make it sound like it is only the Americans who are in Somalia...
Actually, for most of the audience reading only the inland papers,
that'll be true. I can't begin to recount how much heat I took for
Canada and other Europeans' "absence" from the Gulf War (geez, the
British and the French were even on the American news, fer cryin'
out loud!!!).
>many other countries are there with the Americans including Canada
>and the French...
Doesn't hurt to repeat it; this might be the only place where some
readers will ever see this ...
A major raid on an arms cache was done by the Pakistanis this past
weekend; the US Army provided backup on the outskirts of town, but
the Pakistanis did just fine ...
gld
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare
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