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| March 28, 2008 |
...laying out an aggressive military solution for Darfur. However his proposal not only would decidedly NOT save Darfur, it would place aid workers in peril and jeopardize humanitarian operations-the only infrastructure in place now sustaining more than 4 million fragile lives. A non-consensual military response cannot possibly use bombers and missiles. Darfur is not a video game. Any plan of action must put the security of civilians and humanitarians first. This means a fully able peacekeeping force on the ground. The aggressive measures contemplated by Helperin do not factor in the safety of civilians and aid workers or Khartoums retaliations that would certainly follow. The Janjaweed could be loosed on the camps. Aid organizations have always known that the killing of even one dozen expatriate humanitarian workers would signal the withdrawal of the rest. All would be expelled with the first bomb in any case...
And who would provide the military equipment for such an attack, let alone the immediate deployment of ground troops in their wake?
Mr Heplerin's piece may read well on paper but it is dangerously ill informed.