http://www.swp.ie/news/latest/irish-army-in-the-service-of-empire.html Irish army in the service of Empire Written by Sara O'Rourke Thursday, 07 February 2008 Irish troops are to be deployed as part of an EU Mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). Their departure was delayed due to increased activity from rebel forces. The media claims that much of this violence is occurring because the rebels in Chad oppose EU intervention. The latest reports say that rebels attacked the airport in N'jamena to stop the arrival of the EU troops. The operation has been presented in the media as a humanitarian mission to help 100,000+ refugees in Chad. It is lauded as a proud day for the Irish because the operation commander will be an Irish officer. Far from a humanitarian mission, this operation is designed to prop up a repressive EU friendly government. Chad's current leader, President Idriss Déby came to power in 1990 by launching a military campaign from across the border, in Darfur (Sudan), and with the support of the Sudanese government. In an interview with RTE, Lieutenant General Pat Nash stated that his 'task is to translate diplomatic policy into military action'. Significantly this is the first time that Irish peacekeepers will be able to use 'all necessary measures to achieve the mandated tasks'. Chad won independence from France in 1960 and has been wracked by internal and international conflicts ever since. Armed opposition to Déby, increased in intensity in 2005 with defections from the army reinforcing several rebel movements. Both Sudan and Libya have sponsored groups in Chad over the years with Darfur a base for Chadian dissidents since the '80s. Déby allied himself with the Chadian Arabs after he too was forced into exile in Darfur. He had support from Chadian Arabs until a rebel attack against the capital city, N'jamena in 2006 led him to disarm and arrest Arab officers in the Chadian national army. In North Africa the term 'Arab' is used to describe tribes with a nomadic lifestyle as opposed to ethnically Arab from the Middle East. All of these 'Arab' tribes are black. The complicated political situation has seen the government of Sudan backing Chadian rebels and militias in Darfur while the government of Chad has supported Sudanese rebel groups in eastern Chad, which in turn have supported the creation of self-defense groups at community level in Chad. The 'jajjaweed' militias in Darfur are made up of both Chadian and Sudanese nomads and landless immigrants. The border between Chad and Darfur was an imposed border so members of the ethnic groups from the core of the Sudanese rebel movements have ethnic kin in Chad. In 2005 Chadian troops defected with their equipment to Chadian rebel movements in Darfur. By 2006 Déby had cut off relations with Sudan and was overtly supporting the Sudanese rebel movements and vice versa. Sudanese rebel groups from Darfur supported the Chadian government forces in fighting against Chadian rebels. There has since been a tentative peace agreement signed in Tripoli but fighting continues. Colonialism continues For 22 years 1,200 French troops have been stationed in Chad, a former French colony. In 2006 France provided military aircraft to the Chadian government for aerial surveillance of the border with Sudan. Sarkozy recently visited the country to give support to Déby. Chad exports a lot of cotton, an industry recently privatised. It also has gold but more importantly it has oil. It became a net petroleum exporter after the Chad -Cameroon pipeline came online in 2003. Many consider Chad to have more oil resources. Environmentalists and African NGO's fear that the project will cause huge environmental damage and it is widely acknowledged in Africa that the Chadian economy is dominated by foreign powers. The Doba basin oil project came about after Exxonmobil, in a consortium with Chevron and Petronas invested $3.7 billion to develop the oil reserves in southern Chad. The World Bank also contributed to the pipeline and agreements were signed in which the Chadian government promised to spend 80% of oil revenues on development projects. Despite high oil prices Chad is still the world's fifth poorest country, with a population 9 million people. Little of the oil money is spent by the government on development.While it seems that wherever there is oil there is strife it is also about much more. The landscape of power in the world is shifting and this is being played out in Africa. China is trying to gain control of Sudanese oil, Sudan is also competing for power in Chad, Sarkozy is lending support to Chadian ruler, with many saying that Déby could not remain in power without French support. Why are Irish troops being deployed into a situation like this? What military action will Pat Nash be leading Irish troops into? Protecting civilians, refugees and aid or protecting an oil supply that needs safe passage through a pipeline, out of a strife ridden country. A multinational military force propping up a corrupt dictator will be resisted. Especially if those troops include the previous colonial master. Irish troops have now been drafted into the EU Empire's police force. © 2008 Socialist Workers Party Website Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License. -- -------------------------------------------------------- newslog archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=newslog Escaping the Matrix: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal: http://cyberjournal.org The Phoenix Project: http://www.wakingthephoenix.org/ rkm blog: "How We the People can change the world": http://governourselves.blogspot.com/ The Post-Bush Regime: A Prognosis http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7693 Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html Moderator: •••@••.••• (comments welcome)
