I wonder if Pakistan has accepted this request, and whether it is wise considering we have other large scale commitments in other parts of west Africa?
UN seeks Pak troops for Liberia
The United Nations has asked Pakistan to send its troops to Liberia whose President, Charles Taylor, is stepping down on August 11 and bloodshed is being feared in the war- ravaged country, diplomatic sources told The News. Islamabad is ready to dispatch its peacekeeping units to Liberia and Georgia, as approved by the UN Security Council, the sources said, adding Pakistan has once again reminded the US that it may not send troops to Iraq without UN sanction.
They said this would disappoint Americans who wanted Pakistan to send its troops to Iraq without UNO approval. This situation could pressure US to follow the UN route for sending troops to Iraq. The sources confirmed that Islamabad has already received the request for sending the troops to Monrovia to help the international peacekeeping force to bring normalcy to the war- torn country.
Ak-47, Pakistani troops are going under the UN flag. This means that we have the full protection and backing of the united nations. Operations like this are very good for public relations that means the more we do the better were viewed. Pakistan should send troops to Liberia.
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*Originally posted by Malik73: *
I wonder if Pakistan has accepted this request, and whether it is wise considering we have other large scale commitments in other parts of west Africa?
where else do we have commitments in west africa?
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Since 1948 there have been 56 UN peacekeeping operations. Forty-three of these operations have been created by the United Nations Security Council since 1988. Thus far, close to 130 nations have contributed personnel at various times; 89 are currently providing peacekeepers. As of March 31, 2003, the top contributors of military and civilian personnel to current missions were: Pakistan (4,236), Nigeria (3,318), India (2,742), Bangladesh (2,644), Ghana (2,176). In 2003, there were 14 peacekeeping operations underway.
Bellow is a list of the opperations pakistan has participated in!
AFRICA
Congo July 1960–June 1964
Angola Dec. 1988–May 1991
Namibia April 1989–March 1990
Angola May 1991–Feb. 1995
Somalia April 1992–March 1993
Mozambique Dec. 1992–Dec. 1994
Somalia March 1993–March 1995
Rwanda/Uganda June 1993–Sept. 1994
Liberia Sept. 1993–Sept. 1997
Rwanda Oct. 1993–March 1996
Chad/Libya May–June 1994
Angola Feb. 1995–June 1997
Angola June 1997–Feb. 1999
Sierra Leone July 1998–Oct. 1999
Central African Republic April 1998–Feb. 2000
EUROPE
Former Yugoslavia Feb. 1992–March 1995
Croatia March 1995–Jan. 1996
Former Yugoslavia
Rep. of Macedonia March 1995–Feb. 1999
Bosnia & Herzegovina Dec. 1995–Dec. 2002
Croatia Jan. 1996–Jan. 1998
Croatia Jan. 1998–Oct. 1998
I don't have any problem with Pak soldiers doing a great job under the UN, however there are a couple of provisos:
There should be sufficent incentive for Pakistan to do so, good PR is worth only so much, there has to be a financial benefit as well.
Pakistan has to promote it's peace keeping efforts much better than is done at present. Take a leaf out of America's Black Hawk Down propaganda campaign which Bush intervened personally to make sure the yanks came out smelling of roses after what was a spanking defeat. Here's a great opportunity to counter all the negative publicity that Pakistan generates, by honouring a noble cause.