This is just astounding:
The AU (African Union) revealed that in the last six years some 3,000 AU peacekeepers have died in Somalia. The peacekeeping effort began small and it took a year to get the force up to 3,000 troops. Currently there are nearly 18,000 peacekeepers in Somalia. It’s been a dangerous area for peacekeepers, with about 15 percent of them killed or wounded since 2007. For a long time the AU played down their losses but did not hide them. The casualties were reported in the countries the peacekeepers came from. Somalia has been one of the bloodiest peacekeeping missions ever.
I believe that our loss rate in Iraq was about 2%, by way of comparison. Which is why we were able to fight the war with a volunteer military for so long. How the AU keeps troops going to Somalia is beyond me. The pay must be really good.
Of course, remember that the international community's goal isn't so much to solve the problem of Somalia as it has been to keep the bad news at a level low enough to avoid spoiling our evening supper. Mission accomplished, it seems.
