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SITREP 25 01 APR 05
GENERAL SITUATION:
With the signing of the Sudan Mandate in the Security
Council the UN has moved from nearly inert to merely sluggish.
If nothing else it has generated more visitations, deputations and
disruptions of operations. The UN exponentially outdoes
even the Pentagon in the production of jargon, acronyms and abbreviations. Be
prepared to update your glossaries!
SECTOR 3:
Sector 3 is now officially yclept Sector Central East. I
cling to the old terminology in the name of brevity and unwillingness
to replace one perfectly good name with a newer and more complicated one to
satisfy the dictates of bureaucratic foolishness. Possibly
also pigheadedness?
27 MAR 05 saw a visit from the Special Representative of the
Secretary General (SRSG; see what I meant about bureaucratic drivel?).
The UN Force Commander (UNFC), a Bangladeshi Major General who visited us
once before, made a point of
looking me up to discuss any suggestions I might have re operations. While
His Excellency (that’s right, that’s how the
SRSG is addressed) was getting the full briefing and village visit to Um
Serdiba ‘dog & pony show‘ by Andrew, I was
able to recommend to MG Akhbar the use of Mercedes Unimog trucks as a cost
effective alternative to the brutal expense
of helicopter operations during the rainy season. I also took pains to
ensure that he was aware of just how strong the
antipathy to the proposed Egyptian Force Protection unit is, and will continue
to be, in the Nuba. I believe that it was a
worthwhile conversation. I also have a hunch that I was recommended as a
resource by a British Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)
on his staff with whom I spoke fairly extensively about operational
realities in the AO during the FC’s first visit.
On 30 MAR 05 I revisited Karkaria (SITREP 24), Andulo and
Rigifi. I am happy to report that all is once again quiet
on that front. The presence of an additional 21 armed policemen has had a
calming effect on Karkaria. Andulo reported no problems,
and Rigifi, itself once one our worst hotspots, seems positively soporific.
Sheik Suleiman and the acting GOS Police Chief report that the
few problems they have had in Rigifi have been dealt with at village
level. They also reported that a provocateur with alleged SPLM
connections had tried to inflame the village to throw out the GOS Police as he
claimed that the citizens of Karkaria had done, but that this
problem was also handled locally. The presence of the head of the expanded
GOS Police who accompanied us, coupled with our SPLA
Monitor telling them that not only had the Karkaria force moved no more than a
quarter of a mile from its former site, but that it had also
been reinforced five fold , should put the story of the GOS Police having
been evicted from Karkaria to rest once and for all.
Yesterday I visited the villages of Al Nugra and Al Atmour
to ensure that all is still peaceful after the severe beating of two Moro men
by Shanabla / Hameri nomads (SITREP 23), and the retaliatory shootings (not
fatal) of two Shanabla men later that day. Speedy and
effective
actions taken by the local SPLA Battalion Commander on the Al Nugra side, and
the equally effective actions taken by the local GOS
garrison commander in Al Atmour on the other, prevented a potentially
explosive situation from escalating.
The GOS village of Al Atmour has been remarkably calm during
my tenure in the sector. This village is comprised of Arab, Moro and
Bagara nomads. These tribes with disparate cultures have learned to live
in harmony despite their ethnic differences. In addition, the
eastern edge of their area abuts the lands of the SPLM villages of Al Nugra
and Tobolu which have resident SPLA contingents.
The team presented an explanation of the provisions of the
CPA to the assembled sheiks, elders and a number of interested citizens
in Al Atmour. The only requests we got were for another well, staffing and
medications for their clinic, and more educational facilities
and teachers for the village children. A day such as yesterday makes up
for a lot of Karkarias and Um Serdibas.
We have told The Um Serdiba Police Chief that the war is
over and he must reclaim his village from the criminal elements that are
starting to operate far too freely there. Needless to say, the Dreaded
Serir Double, whose name and misdeeds are not unknown to
SITREP readers, is involved in the latest problems. I was able to make the
Chief of the Kadugli State Police aware of the situation,
as we both happened to be at Tillo JMC HQ yesterday afternoon. There will
probably be more on this situation as and when a
denouement is reached.
Our good friend and colleague, MAJ Lorenzo Guani, departed
for His home in Italy at his End of Mission (EOM) yesterday. His hard work
and good humor wiil be missed by his friends in the JMC.
Andrew has been filling in well for Rainer while Rainer is
on leave. He has taken advantage of a very slight lull in operations to catch
everyone up on various aspects of training that required review; carried out
operations himself; and prepared for and conducted various
operational debriefings and VIP briefings. Walter, our new South African
medic, has jumped right into the thick of things. He has been
going out on patrols and providing some excellent training for everyone. I am
still going out on operations and functioning as Camp
Commandant as well.
MICHAEL’S WORLD:
After sixty four years of assiduously avoiding
administration and logistics, I decided that I needed to be able to swim in
these waters
at something exceeding a feeble dog paddle. I volunteered for, and am now
settled into, my secondary job of Camp Commandant
(the one in charge of sector ad / log.) This is normally performed by PAE
employees hired specifically for the task. By honing my
superb organizational skills to an even higher level, retaining my wonted
humility, good humor and work ethic, and avoiding the fleshpots
and video game arcades in Um Serdiba (not difficult, as there is none of
either), I am keeping up with both jobs.
Getting down to thirty days until leave. And that’s it for this week from the Sudan. Michael
SITREP 26 08 APR 05
GENERAL SITUATION:
The Sudanese Government is absolutely ballistic about the
passage of UNSC Resolution 1593. They are chest pounding, delaying
visas at all levels and threatening all manner of retribution. 1593, of
course, is the resolution decreeing war crimes trials and
investigations as a result of the alleged genocide and other violations of
just about all the rules of land warfare. If the UN and its
international supporters can produce no more effective action than that
taken in the case of Slobodan Milosovic and his Serbian
thugs, GOS and its criminal supporters in Darfur should have little
to fear in the way of justice or retribution being meted out to them.
There has been a spate of ’tribal gatherings’ all over the
SPLM areas of late. They seem to be trying to mobilize, organize and
politicize.
The goal seems to be the political takeover of the former DMZ areas, still
under the administration and police control of the GOS.
The events that transpired in Karkaria a few weeks ago (SITREPs 23 &24)
are a good example of this activity. Prompt action by the
JMC and GOS Police, combined with the common sense and courageous actions
of the Headmaster and parent-teacher council of the
local school, ensured that that situation remained under control. The GOS,
up to this time the far better organized of the two factions in
our AO, seems to be a bit behind the curve all of a sudden. They certainly
do not seem to have any proactive plan to cope with, much less
get ahead of, the ever increasing number of SPLM/A provocateurs who are
going around to these villages with their messages of a
better world without the GOS.
SECTOR 3 OPERATIONS:
Things have been relatively quiet here in Sector 3 this
week. Two visits, one VIP and one journalist, and a required three day
orientation
course at Tillo HQ which almost every one of was required to take
effectively quashed most operations.
One thing that I would like to mention here is that the
National Monitors have taken on a much more responsible management role of
late.
Our mission is changing from one whose primary role was that of military
inspections to one of facilitating expanding civilian and police
interaction and cooperation. The National Monitors are frequently going
out on their own to lay the ground work for village level cross
line meetings in some of our more chronically troublesome areas. We hope
to hold the first of these meetings right here in Um Serdiba
shortly. This was a good first test for the National Monitors, as the GOS
Omda and the SPLM Sheik in this mixed village would not even
sit down together to discuss problems. I believe it’s called being thrown
into the deep end of the pool. In this case, however, the lifeguards
were only five or ten minutes away if needed.
We are trying to get it through everyone’s head that JMC
operations will shut down for good in mid June. There is no reason to
assume that the UN components who will replace us will piggyback on the
successful almost three and one half years of peacekeeping
provided by JMC. Although some UN operational elements have seen and
appreciated the effectiveness of the JMC methods, the
bureaucracy that runs the UN is already stonewalling and has repeatedly
’misplaced’ job applications from experienced JMC operators who
wish to join the UN mission. I suppose they do not wish to risk tarnishing
an unblemished record of failure by bringing in subversives who
might introduce success.
MICHAEL’S WORLD:
I must admit to having been fairly well laid low, off and
on, from Saturday night until Wednesday by a Malaise of Unknown Origin.
Although the symptoms strongly resembled Malaria, all tests proved negative.
Also, there have been no mosquitoes anywhere in the area
for almost six months. A temp of 103.3 Monday evening definitely got the
medics’ attention. I’m just about back to normal, so please
remember when you say your prayers to request no relapses for Michael!
Practitioners of Wican and other off the wall forms of worship
may get naked at midnight and hug trees (or whatever it is that you do), but
please make the same request. Keep well yourselves, and that’s
it forthis week from the Sudan. Michael