SITREP 17   04 FEB 05

SITREP 17 & 18

GENERAL SITUATION:

Everyone is trying to figure out what is going to happen next. As we are dependent upon some action from that supremely

inefficient aggregation of professional thieves, do nothings, and masters of process as opposed to accomplishment ( the U.N.),

nobody knows what, when or if anything will happen. A series of meetings for the district leadership is planned for the next few weeks,

to be followed by meetings with the local leaders and citizenry. At these meetings we will explain the provisions of the CPA and

apprise them of what we know so far about timings.

One problem that has revealed itself in the local meetings that we have had already is that the local people are generally

under the misapprehension that they will be able to vote in the National Referendum to be held in 2011to decide whether or not the

South will be able to secede from the Republic of Sudan and form a separate nation. The Nuba Mountain area has been declared part

of the GOS under the provisions of the CPA, so they will have no option as to which entity will be their nation no matter how the vote goes.

This will not cause any elation to be sure, but as Macchiavelli pointed out it’s always best to do deal with the unpleasant aspects early on.

Of more concern is the projected assignment of Egyptian peace keepers to the Nuba. I cannot conceive of a more poorly considered

decision than this. The reaction of the locals, both Christian and Muslim, to bringing in their former colonizers and exploiters will definitely

not be favorable. There is no ethnic segment of the Nuba population who will want Egyptians in control of their destiny. Everyone has

heard the adage about those who do not learn from history being condemned to repeat it. Nobody seems to have studied the success of the JMM/C to find out why and how it worked (and it has worked extremely well for three years), and so the JMM/C success may well be

destroyed by poor planning by the UN. · SECTOR 3 OPERATIONS:

Never a dull moment. We continue to carry out Military Inspections on a regular basis. In addition, we are expanding the village

interface program, and complaint investigation and resolution continue to be part of our workload.

Our present site will be closed down sometime in the next few months. Our esteemed colleague and friend Lorenzo is unfortunately

being reassigned to another sector, and will be leaving us within the next couple of weeks. His skill, good humor and outstanding work

ethic will be missed. Sector 5’s gain will definitely be Sector 3’s loss, and we all wish him only the best in his future work in JMC, and in

his career in the Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Italian Army.

Our stellar and affable medic, Paul Hughes, anticipated a quiet evening in Um Serdiba last night. But once again his skills were needed

to bring another local child suffering from Falciparum Malaria back from death’s door, a feat he has accomplished numerous times since

his arrival her. Unfortunately, Paul will also be leaving us in the near future when his contract expires

It is a real privilege to serve with such fine men. This is not to suggest that the performance of everyone else in the sector is not

outstanding; these two just happened to stand out this week.

The remaining Sector 3 personnel will be relocated to the Tillo HQ and work out of there. With the rainy season approaching and the

roads in the sector going from very bad to absolutely impassable in most places, we will have to deploy mainly by helicopter in any event. Therefore basing us where the helicopters are based does make a certain amount of sense.

MICHAEL’S WORLD:

Although I’ve avoided political comment for the most part, I must remark upon the recent elections in Iraq. You know; the ones that

shouldn’t, couldn’t or wouldn’t be held; which if held would not enjoy any significant participation by the people of Iraq? Well, they were

held; the people did come despite the very real danger, and the courageous decisions of President Bush were vindicated. Even the BBC

could not find the cloud behind this silver lining, but I have no doubt that the “America Last” crowd in our country will no doubt try to.

Does the future of Iraq still face challenges of great magnitude? Of course, but the Iraqis now believe that they have a chance and that

they are far better of than they were before the American intervention. Remember, if there were not difficult decisions to be taken we would

not need a determined President. The Senate and the House of Representatives could do it all. But the difficult decisions are always there,

and avoiding them just makes them more difficult for the next leader to whom the can is kicked down the road to resolve the problem.

I am just continuing to march, with only an occasional aspirin required. Once again, I am able to be a part of history as it develops.

Unless I hit a lottery I guess I’m not going to die wealthy in a material sense, but money could never buy the experiences I’ve been

blessed to have had in my life. And with a wife as wonderful as Karen, who needs a lot of money anyway?

Michael · SITREP 18 11 FEB 05 · GENERAL SITUATION:

There is nothing new of any significance to report. The people continue to want the peace process to work. If it fails, as I have

said before, it will be due to the bad faith of the leadership of both sides in the dispute; not to the attitude or behavior any

of the average citizens with whom I have dealt. So let us hope and pray for the best (and, as always, plan for the worst).

Perhaps a few words about the United Nations are in order. First, the very name is misleading. There is precious little unity

demonstrated, absent the continual carping about the United States which founded the organization and which makes its continued

existence possible. While its concept may have had some validity in the immediate aftermath of World War 2, to the extent that any

huge and wealthy bureaucracy can ever hold any real solutions for the varied problems of the poor people of the world, it has strayed

too far from its original goals to hope to accomplish them. Also, the world situation has changed so radically that the UN as originally

envisioned has become a victim of the changing world and its own inertia and inadaptability. It is only slightly more useful and viable

in today’s world than a subsidized buggy whip factory would be. The few accomplishments it can occasionally claim are due to the efforts

of dedicated field workers who sometimes manage to do some good despite, rather than because of, the parent organization. It cannot

presume to guarantee the peace when it has neither inherent enforcement power nor (in view of recent scandals) significant credibility.

The problems of the poor peoples of the world are from local and specific causes. There are frequently common problems; i.e.,

the usual diseases; lack of water, or too much water; inadequate education, etc. The causes and solutions, however, are almost

always local. Tip O’Neill was right when he opined that all politics are local, but that is because most problems are generated and

finally solved locally. In the United States we see the failures that occur when we attempt to solve local problems by applying top down

solutions generated by distant federal bureaucracies such as the Department of Education. Their “one size fits all” answers to the

vastly different problems of local schools in rural America and the troubles in the inner cities, for instance, have failed dismally.

West Overshoe, Idaho is not Southeast Washington, DC. The results of the problems may be the same, but the origins of the problems

themselves are not. The attempts to take the problem solving process away the locale of the problem, and replace it with some panacea

sent by those who cannot even really know the situation or the problem has never, and will never, work effectively. The potential for

failure grows dramatically when we extrapolate from the relatively homogeneous and developed nations into a world in which the focus

is normally strictly local, and without much sense or appreciation for what may have worked elsewhere. Does “We don’t give a damn

how you did it up north” resonate at all?

Do not expect the delegates to the UN from the poor nations of the world, their governments at home, nor the bureaucrats at any level

within the UN itself to do anything to reform the organization itself or to address the real problems. Such actions might derail the

Gravy Train. As long as the money keeps flowing to the powers that be in these countries, and to the bureaucrats in New York, Paris,

Geneva and the Hague, the common people in the poor nations will continue to suffer. If they stopped suffering, the money that is

supposed to help them (but most of which seldom ever makes it that far) would stop coming. And where would that leave those living the

good life on this money? We cannot reasonably expect the welfare workers in America to do much to end the spate of out of wedlock births

that provide them with their livelihoods. Nor can we reasonably expect either the UN or the governments that profit from Western largesse

to do much to modify the status quo of their own volition.

I do not mean to imply that nobody in the UN ever does anything worthwhile. UNICEF drills wells, helps with local schools, and

carries out other functions that provide the locals with the means to better themselves. But trying to find UN personnel engaged in

meaningful long term beneficial operations is akin to pawing through a barrel of rotten apples to try to find one good one. If after

sixty years this organization can produce no better than that which it has shown to date, it should be scrapped and replaced based on lessons learned from the current failure.

If nothing else, the headquarters elements need to be moved from the brutally expensive sites they currently occupy in the shopping

capitals of the world to some isolated, undeveloped and impoverished Third World country such as one of the nations in Central Saharan

or Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia or Latin America. Severe limits on spending for accommodation should be in place, and the

reconstituted organization should only be large enough to deal with the few and limited areas in which they have been able to show

some success in the past. This would drastically reduce operating costs, benefit the host countries with much needed foreign exchange,

and perhaps even provide a more dedicated sort of individual as an employee.

I am sure that some would point to peacekeeping as a justification for the UN’s continued unaltered existence, but time and

space in this SITREP will not allow an adequate response to this suggestion. Suffice to say that the UN has never stopped anyone

who really wanted a war. It has never ended a war prior to the combatants deciding to cease hostilities on their own, or without the

intervention of some major powers or alliances such as NATO. It has never maintained a ceasefire that the parties decided to abrogate.

The list of UN failures in this area goes on and on and on. If someone wants a good example of what I am talking about, he or she need

look no further than the Rwanda debacle and the massacre of almost one million Tutsis while the UN forces were required to stand by and

do nothing beyond rescue some Whites who needed assistance in escaping. For an in depth expression of my true feelings on this matter

you will just have to wait for the book!

SECTOR 3 OPERATIONS:

Unfortunately, the really interesting stuff concerning a murder/cattle rustling incident which we are trying to keep from sprouting political

wings will have to wait until the Cross Faction Police Conference on Sunday. If enough interesting items come out of this meeting, I may

even send a supplemental SITREP to update everyone.

In addition to the CFPC meeting, we have two other major meetings scheduled in which we will try to disseminate as much information

as possible concerning the provisions of the CPA and the timetable (to the extent that we have one) for the JMC turnover to the UN.

We unfortunately expect to lose International Monitor MAJ Lorenzo Guani and Superstar Medic Paul Hughes to other duties next week.

MICHAEL’S WORLD:

So far, so good. I don’t really have much of anything new to report in the personal front. So take care until next week.

Michael