UNITED
NATIONS, April
15
-- To some it
seems strange
that France
would be
the country to
draft the
Security
Council's
resolution on
Mali, and
that its draft
would have the
Council
“welcoming the
action of the
French
forces.”
But
the French
draft, which
Inner City
Press has
put online
here,
would
also authorize
French forces
to use “all
necessary
means” to
intervene.
Before
the draft came
out, Inner
City Press
asked French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
to compare
France's plans
for Mali with
what it did in
Cote d'Ivoire,
where it
operated its
own Force
Licorne
parallel to,
and often
ultimately
directing, the
UN mission.
Araud
declined.
On
Monday Inner
City Press
asked Araud
about Chad
saying it will
pull
its troops
from the
anti-guerrilla
or
anti-terrorist
fight in Mali.
Araud replied,
that was an
announcement
of president
Deby, and said
it wouldn't
immediately
impact the
negotiations
on the
proposed new
$800 million
UN mission,
MINUSMA.
As
another
comparison,
one wonders if
the transition
from the
untried
AFISMA to
MINUSMA will
go better than
in the
Democratic
Republic of
Congo, between
MONUC and the
current
discredited
MONUSCO.
Behind
it all is
Herve Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping.
As shown,
while Ladsous
represented
France at the
UN
during the
Rwanda
genocide, he
argued for the
escape of the
genocidaires
into Eastern
Congo.
Having
a DPKO chief
independent
from France
would be one
way to
counter-act
the danger of
letting France
drafts it own
mandate in
Mali. But
there
is an
increasing
sense of who
Ladsous works
for. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
on
the green
side, the
resolution
says “to
consider the
environmental
impacts of
MINUSMA.” So
will there be
an
Environmental
Impact
Statement?
Watch this
site.
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