The United Nations urged U.S. authorities Thursday to hold private security firms accountable for unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians and warned against increasing reliance on the heavily armed guards.
The UN expressed disapproval of the civilians who have died during our military operations in Baghdad. The UN is unable to distinguish the true blame in insurgents who fight among civilians and terrorists who deliberately target civilians. Nor can the UN grasp that deaths in Iraq are declining.
Of course, the UN knows what war crimes look like:
Yet all other problems relating to peacekeeping operations pale in comparison to the main reason for not accepting the status quo—the persistence of sexual exploitation perpetrated by U.N. peacekeepers. The many instances of sexual exploitation are well known and need not be described in detail here, but suffice it to say that the irony of those abuses should be lost on nobody. The fact that U.N. peacekeepers—who have been sent to protect the most destitute and desperate populations on earth—should use their position of power to sexually exploit those who have already been victimized by their circumstances is beyond comprehension.
U.N. peacekeepers must be held accountable for their criminal acts if the U.N. is to be viewed as a force for peace and security around the world. In the past, peacekeepers who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct or other crimes have, at worst, simply been repatriated to their home countries where they face no punishment. This is apparently all the U.N. is empowered to do. The results are sadly predicable. An analysis done by the U.K. Independent newspaper in January found that while nearly 200 U.N. personnel have been repatriated for sex offenses over the past three years, none appear to have been prosecuted by their home countries.
At least private security firms provide actual security when they are in the field. And they do seem to be held more accountable than the UN itself.
Go figure.
