Some bloggers
have been discussing the alleged sexual misconduct of the Jordanian peacekeepers in East Timor for a while now and I must admit I’m extremely embarrassed and shamed by the scandal. I just hope these soldiers will be harshly punished for tarnishing the reputation of our country and people.
There is a follow-up by the same Aussie author to an article I posted here regarding this terrible and disgusting behavior. The full article is here. This is an excerpt:
The deployment of Jordanian peacekeepers to East Timor was probably one of the most contentious UN decisions to follow the bloody independence ballot. It was eclipsed only by the cover-up and inaction that followed when the world body learned of their involvement in a
series of horrific sex crimes involving children living in the war-battered Oecussi enclave. Children were not the only victims — in early 2001, two Jordanians were evacuated home with injured penises after attempting sexual intercourse with goats.
Meanwhile, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, recommended an overhaul of a tattered U.N. military system in the world body’s 17 peacekeeping operations of some 64,000 personnel.
"The reality of prostitution and other sexual exploitation in a peacekeeping context is profoundly disturbing to many because the United Nations has been mandated to enter into a broken society to help it," Zeid wrote after visiting Congo and interviewing officials and victims.
The Washington Post has a feature examining the situation from a different angle here.
lol sterling, u realise that no matter how many nations americans invade, 280 million arabs will not change their mind about america. the arab governments have always been completly seperated from the arab street. the only option america has in doing something about bin laden is ridding the world of every arab and then every muslims, so thats about a billion and a half…orrr…withdrawing from the middle east and specifically abandoning israel.
i, religiously, may not agree with what occurred on 911 and most arabs dont, but at the end of the day (at least what diffrentiates us from them) i understand why it was committed. “why” is the word that was printed all over the US media, the lack of understanding. this question is going to be asked over and over and over again.
Bush is trying to prevent a war that was already started 57 years ago. too little too late
Look – I don’t particularly care what happens in the Middle East. I was almost completely disinterested before 9/11, despite having studied some North African states’ political culture during my graduate studies. Basically, I don’t want the messy overflow into my country. Societies that produce Bin Laden and his minions will change, one way or another.
Bush is trying to inspire a new order, and I think that’s a workable plan. Maybe it will be successful, maybe it won’t. I don’t think we’ll know for sure for 15 or 20 years. I DO know, however, that you can cling to your cynicism or you can make the most of the opportunity that Bush has given you.
Whether you realize it or not, Bush’s approach has been the gentle alternative. He could have drafted a million men and marched the U.S. Army from Lebanon to the Hindu Kush. He could have made Afghanistan radioactive for the next 30,000 years – the Taliban having de facto declared war on the United States of America. The response since 9/11 is a pissed-off America trying to be patient and to be constructive. If you want to see what happens if this approach doesn’t work, and an American city is destroyed or thousands more American civilians killed by Al Qaeda or another Muslim group – read about William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea in the American Civil War. My own family had to flee before the advancing U.S. Army, which was destroying everything in its path. In the 140 years since, the State of Georgia has never fully recovered, and I’m no fan of Sherman’s. My grandfather ran away and joined the circus when he was 16, to escape the poverty that surrounded him.
Before the war, Sherman wrote the following to some southern friends:
Bush is trying to prevent a civilizational war – a war that the Christian West would surely win. Baghdad still stands. Mosul still stands. Incredibly, even Tikrit still stands – that’s mercy, whether you recognize it or not. Again, nobody is asking you to like it, but try to see the larger issues at play and act accordingly.
You accuse me of imperialism in one post and isolationism in another. Who’s being funny?
Sterling, loool that was the funniest thing i’ve ever read. u guys actually believe this dont u? the “liberate the arab world” thing? never a dull day. hmm. if the devil himself created an empire at the end of the world the american government wouldn’t care…as long as the devil is not against america that is. the smell of manifest destiny is blowing in the middle east.
Nas – I don’t know how many of those incidents occurred. I do know that a great many of them were fabricated by a pro-Soviet group called “Vietnam Veterans Against the War”. The My Lai massacre is well-known, and Lt. William Calley was sentenced to 20 years in prison but served only 3 1/2 before being released. But I don’t see what that has to do with Iraq, and the generally good behavior of U.S. troops there.
I’m sure there are a few Iraqis in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity who don’t really belong there. But I doubt it’s very many, and I doubt they’re troublemakers who attract undue attention from the guards. And for the time being it’s more important to keep suspected bad apples off the streets. The Iraqi government can decide what to do with them once it assumes responsibility for security, which will probably be later this year if the rumblings are true. (The rumors are that Sec’y Rice has endorsed a plan to withdraw the bulk of U.S. troops from Iraq this year. We’ll see – cross your fingers.)
Most Americans don’t expect the Iraqis to be all that fond of us for invading their country and staying there for a few years. Bush wasn’t trying to win a popularity contest to begin with – it was about instilling a new order non-conducive to mega-terror in the Middle East. Hopefully the elections in Iraq will continue to stir a spirit of reform and a move toward responsive government through the Islamic world. Past U.S. foreign policy was to accept the execrable status quo in the interest of stability – because we need the oil, mainly. Bush obviously has repudiated that, and will continue to press for democratic reforms. Sometimes he will do so diplomatically, sometimes economically, and sometimes through the application of military force.
Arab political culture is diseased, and so long as that disease primarily affected Arabs, the U.S. regarded it as a problem for Arabs to solve. But on 9/11 your mess spilled over into our territory, and that’s when it ceased being just your problem. I’m sure it’s humiliating to see people from an entirely different part of the world, with a radically different culture, insert themselves into your affairs and force a change. But the change is to the benefit of Arabs (and probably Persians, too), and you should get over your shame and make the most of it. It’s unlikely this opportunity will come twice in your lifetime.
Kinzi, I doubt the events because of (a) the source (b) the style of writing of the journalist and (c) the goat thing seems a little too much. It could happen, and of course just because i doubt it did doesnt mean im not acknowledging that there are sick people in our societies…what society doesnt have these types for God’s sake? certainly not australia. and certainly not america. but in reference to this case im reserving some doubt until further evidence emerges.
Sterling, Can you tell me about the many cases of rape, torture and other “uniform code” violations the american troops committed while in vietnam and how long it took for them to emerge?
you also said you’d feel a lot “worse about it if it involved innocent Iraqis dragged in off the street”. I alone, can name several Iraqis by name who suffered that exact fate. Just because u get thrown in a prison during a war doesn’t mean you deserve to be there.
I agree with Kinzi that the goat allegations seem a bit over the top.
Well, Nas, I assume the victims of the abuse aren’t in prison for wearing white after Labor Day, which is to say that I’d feel a lot worse about it if it involved innocent Iraqis dragged in off the street.
The fact that you’re presenting episodes of blowing cigarette smoke into prisoners’ faces as if it was some kind of torture, or an atrocity, is evidence that you have no real examples of widespread torture or actual atrocities to point to.
Incidentally, a lot of rumors were spread in late 2003 and early 2004 that U.S. troops were freely raping Iraqi women. The rumors came to nothing, but in case you’re wondering what would happen to soldiers who did such a thing, here’s the Uniform Code of Military Justice article that deals with forcible and statutory rape. The maximum penalty is death, though I believe soldiers convicted of the crime usually get something more like 15-25 years in prison.
Nas, there are quite a few sickos here in Amman that sexually abuse their own sisters, nieces, nephews and neighbors, why do you doubt it would happen there? Isn’t it even sicker when a family member uses a younger relative for their own pleasure? Especially when it could even mean that that little girl will never marry (or worse) because her virginity is gone?
Iyas, you think because the UN has a zero-tolerance policy that anyone anywhere follow it? Haven’t you been reading about UN sexual abuse in the Congo or Balkans? There is no organization I trust less than the UN.
The goat topic does sound a little too stereotypical. But Jordan has a long way to go in addressing the ramifications of the sexual appetites of it’s people. The government claims most of the AIDS cases (and other diseases) are brought in by foreigners, maybe they should be testing Jordanian “businessmen” who regularly travel to Asia.