Replace Peacekeepers With Peace Enforcers

The Belmont Club today has an interesting bit on the latest disintergration of the Ivory Coast.

This nation, like many around the world, has never gotten itself together since its European colonial masters left 50 years ago. According to Belmont, another surge of violence, led by local bands of thugs looking for power and loot, is about to break out. There are UN and French troops on the ground, but it seems the UN is being pushed around by these heavily armed gangs leaving the locals at their mercy.

Having an international presence in such places is a good idea. Somebody has to protect the weak. But merely placing soldiers in a country like the Ivory Coast is not enough. The UN or parent country needs to send them in with a mandate to hunt down and eliminate those who want to disrupt the country.

You cannot keep killers in line and protect people with peacekeepers or police. Only soldiers willing to practice their art can do the job.

It is entirely politically incorrect to say so, but the thugs in the Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Sudan, etc. are savages. They will kill to gain leverage over the weak or to destroy other tribes. They cannot bargained with or given a place of security to live while biding their time for another push to control the country. There is nothing you can give these bands of murderers that will make them stop. They are uncivilized and only understand force. They do not want to live in peace, they are not fighting for a just cause.

Yes, this is a colonial era response to the problem, but it was used 100 years ago because it was effective. If the UN does not truly want to solve the problem then it ought to send its troops home, why put these people at risk for nothing.