Posted on 03/20/2008 10:46:06 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Members of the Dutch parliament's lower house have expressed serious concerns over joining the EU's military mission in Chad, over fears that France may affect the neutrality of the mission.
The 3,700 strong EU force was officially deployed this week (17 March) to protect refugees on the border of the Sudanese region of Darfur.
The Dutch are concerned that France may affect the neutrality of the mission. France is the former colonial power in Chad and is providing half the troops for the EU force, which is also being commanded on the ground by French General Jean-Philippe Ganascia.
The Dutch MPs fear a 'conflict of loyalties' could lead to the peace mission troops being seen as a valid target by the rebels, reports Radio Netherlands.
France is a supporter of the Chadian government in its conflict with the rebels, but French General Henri Bentegeat, chair of the European Union's Military Committee, has assured the Dutch lower house that Chadian rebels pose no threat to the European peace mission, Dutch media reports.
In February, Chad's rebels warned the EU not to send peacekeepers to the country, fearing the troops will not be neutral in the dispute between them and General Idriss Deby, the country's ruler.
The EU force will operate in Chad for a 12-month period, approved by the UN Security Council in September last year.
Deployment of the European peacekeeping force, EUFOR-Chad-CAR, was delayed at the start of February when rebels made a lightning advance on the capital, N'Djamena.
The EU force also suffered its first death on 3 March, when French soldiers crossed the border into Sudan and came under fire from the Sudanese army. One French soldier was shot dead.
Russian defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced during a visit to Paris last week (11 March) that Russia would send helicopters to bolster the EU peacekeeping force along Chad's border with the Darfur region of Sudan.
It would be the first time Russian forces are placed under EU command, though it is not yet clear who would fly the helicopters.
This is a continuation of a horrible legacy of French interference in Africa. While almost all Americans were rapped up in the 2004 election results in Nov of 2004, the French soldiers in the Ivory Coast committed a massacre, killing 20 to 50 unarmed civilian protestors.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13696_What_Happened_in_Ivory_Coast
The Dutch MPs are damn well aware of this, and are quite right in not wanting their troops put under French officers who allowed the officers in charge of the Ivory Coast massacre to walk without as much as a slap on the wrist.
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