30 June 2009
Johannesburg — Peace in Burundi might mean South African National Defence Force (SANDF) peacekeepers can finally go home, but other African conflicts suggest that rest and recovery for the heavily overstretched and underfunded troops might be short-lived.
"Hopefully this [is] the end, and a successful completion of the process," Henri Boshoff, military analyst at the Institute for Security Studies, a South Africa-based think-tank, told IRIN.
SANDF's mandate in Burundi expired on 30 June and its 1,100 soldiers would be withdrawn, except for a small unit that would stay on to help the Burundians establish their own protection unit of some 300 troops, Boshoff said.
South Africa helped end Burundi's 15-year civil war, in which hundreds of thousands lost their lives. In 1999 former President Nelson Mandela was appointed Facilitator of the Arusha Peace Process, an accord was signed in 2000, and Mandela subsequently requested deployment of the SANDF to ensure the safe return of political leaders.
The South African Department of Defence envisioned the first mission taking place in 2007, but the situation in Burundi necessitated deployment as early as 2001. "The SANDF did the almost impossible by deploying a protection element as well as an infantry battalion within two weeks," Boshoff said.
Ethiopia and Mozambique also contributed peacekeepers, while South Africa provided the Force Commander and played a key role in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR), and security sector reform (SSR), providing security during the 2004 election and the final demobilization of the last rebel group, Forces Nationales de Libération. "Lots of effort, finance, logistics and manpower went into the process," Boshoff said.
Overcommitted and underfunded
In line with South Africa's post-apartheid commitment to resolving Africa's conflicts, the Department of Foreign Affairs drafted a White Paper on Peace Missions as a guide in 1998, but the hasty deployment to Burundi led to operational, budgetary and personnel challenges, many of which remain.
According to the paper, deployment at any given time would be limited to one battalion - around 700 troops, depending on the mission requirements - yet the SANDF is "currently deploying three battalions, one in Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC], one in Darfur [Sudan] and one in Burundi," Boshoff said.
Peacekeeping missions require a demanding mix of age, expertise and operational readiness from different units in the defence force, severely overstretching the army's capacity.
Ideally, a mission force would comprise a minimum of three units resting and training at home to each one deployed, but a one-to-one ratio was the best the SANDF could currently muster, "resulting in problems with discipline, welfare and morale," Boshoff commented.
Discipline is one of the biggest problems the army is grappling with ... the external deployments are without a doubt part of the problem
In a recent report, South African Army Priorities and Roles in the Early 21st Century, Brig-Gen George Kruys (Rtd), a research associate at the Institute for Strategic Studies at the University of Pretoria, commented: "Discipline is one of the biggest problems the army is grappling with ... the external deployments are without a doubt part of the disciplinary problem."
The SANDF record in Burundi from 2002 to 2008 included some 400 cases of misdemeanour and nearly 1,000 military trials for offences ranging from murder and rape to absence without leave and "rebelliousness", the report noted.
"Taking into account the major role which the army must play in the government's priority task, namely, to deploy peacekeeping forces in Africa," the South African Army simply "does not have the funds to carry out proper training," and "it would not be able to obtain and maintain the needed equipment to carry out the roles it has been tasked to perform," Kruys pointed out.
Of major concern was a lack of understanding on the part of South African politicians regarding the army's financial and deployment needs. "When making external affairs policy speeches" politicians showed "no knowledge of the real state of the army", Kruys said. "The malfunctioning of army vehicles during peacekeeping deployments in Africa is a common problem."
According to Boshoff, the question is: "What will happen with that Burundi battalion?" Redeployment to DRC is already being considered.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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MATTHEW 10:26 DON’T BE AFRAID OF THEM, FOR THERE IS NOTHING COVERED THAT WON’T BE REVEALED AND THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN THAT WON’T BE REVEALED.
Remember the 120 ! in the Upperroom, Gideon’s 300, One(1) believer can chase 1,000 demons & Two (2) can make 10,000 run .
How many will 1 million chase ?
Here’s An abbreviated Spirit Bomb prayer that I’d like for us to say to God The Creator Of All :
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN , HOLY IS YOUR NAME, YOUR KINGDOM COME , YOUR WILL BE DONE, IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN .
- In Jesus Name We Pray – Amen
Pray twice per day once around sunset & once around sunrise .
Have prayer lists which include Family, Chritians, Truthseekers ,& Worthy Causes , etc…
SOME OF OUR LEADERS OR UNDER DEMONIC INFLUENCE , SOME OF OUR
WORLD IS UNDER THE SAME,. OUR UNITED , CONSISTENT, CONTINUOUS
PRAYERS WILL HELP US TO SEE THROUGH JESUS’ EYES. REMEMBER , HE’S
THE HEAD, WE HAVE NO EYES, EARS, NOSE, MOUTH, ETC..WITHOUT THE
HEAD. THAT IS WHY WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT, SOUND, TASTE
OR ANY OTHER NATURAL DISTRACTION. WE ARE SPIRITUAL WARRIORS !!!
Make a Habit Of Praying Twice a Day (Sunset / Sunrise). Have A Daily Prayer, Weekly
Prayer , Monthly Prayer, even Yearly Prayer ; keeping persons, organizations and causes
in mind that you’d like to pray for at these intervals of time ( Daily-Weekly-Monthly-
Yearly).
Some prayer list suggestions –
(DAILY PRAYER LIST ) -
Christian & Natural Family -
TOP-PRIORITY Persons, Causes & Oragnizations
(WEEKLY PRAYER LIST ) -
MID-LEVEL Persons, Causes & Oragnizations
(MONTHLY PRAYER LIST ) -
- Persons, Causes & Oragnizations ( For Example – Heads Of Countries)
(YEARLY PRAYER LIST ) -
LOWER LEVEL - Persons, Causes & Oragnizations
[God Bless You Readers To Want To Know And Seek To Know The Truth] - MAY GOD BE A HAVEN OF PEACE IN OUR TIME OF TROUBLE --
[This inspiring poem was featuring in the movie “Coach Carter ”]
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
- Marianne Williamson -
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] / [http://alexjonesringtones.net/]
WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS ! BE SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
- Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ]
BY PEACE SHALL Many Be deceived (Daniel 8:25) .
DOES THE TERM PEACEKEEPERS ring a Bell ?
Ask the people in Rwanda (who survived that Peace-keeping) about the UN PEACEKEEPERS .
President Obama’s UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE cut her teeth on the RWANDA MASSACRE….OOOPs!!! She said.
(Here’s a Search Link To Many Witnesses To THE NEW U.N. RICE MONSTER)
[http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=Susan+Rice+Rwanda&cat=web&pl=ff& language=english]
OBAMA DECEPTIONS
#1
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrpRocaEfQE ]
[ http://www.infowars.com/obama-feigns-ignorance-of-cfr-nau/ ]
[ http://www.infowars.com/michelle-obama-flashes-%E2%80%98el-diablo%E2%80%99- hand-signal-on-cover-of-vogue/ ]
#2 Here is evidence of Point 2 of the Georgia Guidestones on Reproduction .
Don't be deceived :
[http://www.infowars.com/?p=7259]
Here are search result links to what the Georgia Guidestones are
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones ]
#3
BY PEACE SHALL Many Be deceived (Daniel 8:25) .
DOES THE TERM PEACEKEEPERS ring a Bell ?
Ask the people in Rwanda (who survived that Peace-keeping) about the
United Nations PEACEKEEPERS .
President Obama’s UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE cut her teeth on
the RWANDA MASSACRE…. OOOPs!!! She said.
(Here’s a Search Link To Many Witnesses To THE NEW U.N. RICE MONSTER)
[http://ixquick.com/do/metasearch.pl?query=Susan+Rice+Rwanda&cat=web&pl=ff& language=english]
FAMILIES LINE UP FOR MASONIC CHILD ID PROGRAM ! UNCLE BEAST WANTS YOU !!!
[http://www.infowars.com/families-line-up-for-masonic-child-id-program/ ]
In his piece entitled “ White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys,”
investigative journalist Keith Snow writes:
First note that the ICC can now be viewed as a tool of hegemonic U.S. foreign policy,
where the weapons deployed by the U.S. and its allies include the accusations of, and
indictments for, human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To understand this, we can ask WHY NO WHITE MAN HAS YET BEEN CHARGED
with these or other offenses at the ICC (International Criminal Court) which now holds
five black African warlords and seeks to incarcerate and bring to trial another black man,
also an Arab, Omar Bashir.
Why hasn’t George W. Bush been indicted ? Or what about Donald Rumsfeld ?
Dick Cheney? Henry Kissinger? Ehud Olmert? Tony Blair?
The sad fact is that the International Criminal Court has become terribly
politicized, as has the entire international justice apparatus.
The ICC has issued indictments, for the first time in history, against a sitting head of
state. Meanwhile, according to Snow, an Israeli weapons dealer, also a reputed Mossad
operative, is revealed to be shipping weapons into Sudan with Pentagon support.
And Belgium changed its law rather than prosecute Ariel Sharon for war crimes.
The double standard cries out to us.
One country in the West, however, increasingly stands out as a place where
justice can be found?and that is Spain. With its landmark indictment of
Pinochet and its current consideration of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and
U.S. torture in Guantanamo, we increasingly look to the Spanish Courts with
hope. It was the Spanish courts that returned indictments against Rwandan
soldiers for genocide even as the world coddles U.S. proxy Rwanda and its
leader, Paul Kagame.
[allthingscynthiamckinney.com]
OUR DEEPEST FEAR By Marianne Williamson
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS ! BE SELF-SUFFICIENT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com]
- Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ]