Tag: Troop deployments

China slams reported plan for US B-52 bombers in Australia

[ad_1]

CANBERRA, Australia — The United States is preparing to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in northern Australia, a news report said Monday, prompting China to accuse the U.S. of undermining regional peace and stability.

The United States is preparing to build dedicated facilities for the long-range bombers at Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal in the Northern Territory, national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Tindal is south of the coastal city of Darwin, where thousands of U.S. Marines Corps troops have spent about half of each year since 2012 under a deal struck between then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did not directly respond when asked at a news conference on Monday if the United States is preparing to deploy bombers in Australia.

“We engage with our friends in the United States alliance from time to time,” Albanese said.

“There are visits to Australia, including in Darwin, that has U.S. Marines on a rotating basis stationed there,” he said.

The U.S. Air Force told ABC the ability to deploy U.S. bombers to Australia “sends a strong message to adversaries about our ability to project lethal air power.”

Asked about U.S. nuclear bombers being positioned in Australia, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said defense and security cooperation between countries should “not target any third parties or harm the interests of third parties.”

“The relevant U.S. behaviors have increased regional tensions, seriously undermined regional peace and stability, and may trigger an arms race in the region,” Zhao told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing.

“China urges the parties concerned to abandon the outdated Cold War and zero-sum mentality and narrowminded geopolitical thinking, and to do something conducive to regional peace and stability and enhancing mutual trust between the countries,” Zhao added.

Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton, who was defense minister when his conservative government was voted out office in May, welcomed the prospect of B-52 bombers having a regular presence in Australia.

“It would be fantastic to have them cycling through more regularly,” Dutton said, referring to the bombers. “It bolsters our security position in an uncertain time.”

While in office, Dutton said he had discussed with U.S. authorities rotating all aspects of the U.S. Air Force through sparsely populated northern Australia.

“To defend that (northern Australia) and to deter anybody from taking action against us is absolutely essential,” Dutton said.

“We have a vulnerability and it’s important for us to have a very strong relationship with the United States … and all of our allies,” Dutton added.

ABC said U.S. tender documents showed that the U.S. Defense Department is planning to build an aircraft parking apron at Tindal to accommodate six B-52s.

There were detailed designs for the construction of a U.S Force “squadron operations facility” at Tindal as well as a maintenance center, jet fuel storage tanks and an ammunition bunker, the ABC reported.

“The RAAF’s ability to host USAF bombers, as well as train alongside them, demonstrates how integrated our two air forces are,” the U.S. Defense Department told the ABC.

The ABC did not provide a timeframe for the Tindal upgrade.

———

AP video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 31, 2022
Thousands protest in Haiti as UN to discuss troop request

[ad_1]

UNITED NATIONS — The United States and Mexico said Monday they are preparing a U.N. resolution that would authorize “an international assistance mission” to help improve security in crisis-wracked Haiti so desperately needed humanitarian aid can be delivered to millions in need.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council as thousands across Haiti organized protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The demonstrations came on the day the country commemorated the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who became the leader of the world’s first Black republic.

The U.S. ambassador said the proposed “non-U.N.” mission would be limited in time and scope and be led by “a partner country” that was not named “with the deep, necessary experience required for such an effort to be effective.” It would have a mandate to use military force if necessary.

She said the resolution being worked is a “direct response” to a request on Oct. 7 by prime minister Henry and the Haitian Council of Ministers for international assistance to help restore security and alleviate the humanitarian crisis. It reflects one option in a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the council on Oct. 9 that called for deployment of a rapid action force by one or several U.N. member states to help Haiti’s National Police.

Haiti has been gripped by inflation, causing rising food and fuel prices, and exacerbating protests that have brought society to the breaking point. Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after the prime minister said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double. Gangs blocked the entrance to the Varreux fuel terminal, leading to a severe shortage of fuel at a time that rising prices have put food and fuel out of reach of many Haitians, clean water is scarce, and the country is trying to deal with a cholera outbreak.

Political instability in Latin America’s poorest country has simmered ever since last year’s still-unsolved assassination of Haiti’s president Jovenel Moïse, who had faced opposition protests calling for his resignation over corruption charges and claims that his five-year term had ended. Moïse had dissolved the majority of Parliament in January 2020 after failing to hold legislative elections in 2019 amid political gridlock.

Thomas-Greenfield said the resolution authorizing the security mission is coupled with a resolution obtained by The Associated Press last week that would impose an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on influential Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, nicknamed “Barbeque.” It also would target other Haitian individuals and groups who engage in actions that threaten the peace, security or stability of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, according to the text obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The U.S. ambassador stressed that the United States is “keenly aware of the history of international intervention in Haiti, and specifically of concerns about the council authorizing a response that could lead to an open-ended peacekeeping role.”

The Security Council and the international community must seek “a different course” to respond to the security and dire humanitarian crises in Haiti, which require “targeted international assistance” that must be coupled with “support for political dialogue and backed by sustained international pressure on the actors supporting gang activity.”

Reflecting opposition to foreign interference in Haiti, Marco Duvivier, a 35-year-old auto parts store manager, who joined Monday’s protest in Port-au-Prince said: “The U.S. needs Haiti to make its own decisions and not interfere in Haiti’s business.”

“Life is not going to get better with an international force,” he said.

Since the gang led by “Barbeque” surrounded the fuel terminal, the distribution of more than 10 million gallons of gasoline and fuel and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene stored on site have been blocked.

Gas stations remain shuttered, hospitals have slashed services and businesses including banks and grocery stores have cut their hours as everyone across the country runs out of fuel.

The situation has worsened a recent cholera outbreak, with hundreds hospitalized and dozens dead amid a scarcity of potable water and other basic supplies.

Haiti’s last cholera outbreak was a result of U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal introducing the bacteria into the country’s largest river by sewage. Nearly 10,000 people died and more than 850,000 were sickened.

“We don’t need a foreign force. It’s not going to solve anything,” Jean Venel said.

Helen La Lime, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, told the Security Council in a video briefing from the capital Port-au-Prince that “a humanitarian emergency is now at our doorstep” with disruptions to hospital operations and water supplies impacting the response to the cholera outbreak.

She said appeal by diplomats, the U.N. and others to establish a humanitarian corridor have gone unheeded, and insecurity is rife, with nearly a thousand kidnappings reported in 2022 and millions of children prevented from attending school.

Over the weekend, the U.S. and Canada flew equipment including armored vehicles that the Haitian government had bought for its police officers to help strengthen a department that has long been understaffed and under-resourced. It has struggled to fight gangs blamed for some 1,000 kidnappings so far this year and the killings of dozens of men, women and children as they fight over territory and become more powerful after the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse.

———

Lederer reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 17, 2022
US, Canada send armored vehicles to bolster Haiti’s police

[ad_1]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. and Canada sent armored vehicles and other supplies to Haiti on Sunday to help police fight a powerful gang amid a pending request from the Haitian government for the immediate deployment of foreign troops.

A U.S. State Department statement said the equipment was bought by Haiti’s government, but it did not provide further details on the supplies flown on military aircraft to the capital of Port-au-Prince.

A spokesman for the U.S. military’s Southern Command said he could not provide further details on the supplies sent, though he added it was a joint operation involving the U.S. Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force.

“This equipment will assist (Haiti’s National Police) in their fight against criminal actors who are fomenting violence and disrupting the flow of critically-needed humanitarian assistance, hindering efforts to halt the spread of cholera,” the State Department said.

The equipment arrived more than a month after one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs surrounded a fuel terminal and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Demonstrators also have blocked roads in major cities to protest a sharp rise in fuel prices after Henry announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

Since then, gas stations have closed, hospitals have cut back on services and banks and grocery stores open on a limited basis as fuel, water and other supplies dwindle across Haiti.

The owners of the fuel terminal announced Saturday that armed men had attacked their installations for a second time and fled with more than 28,000 gallons of petroleum products after overpowering surveillance and emergency personnel at the facility.

It was the second time this week that armed men broke into the terminal, which stores more than 10 million gallons of gasoline and diesel and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 15, 2022
EXPLAINER: Haiti’s troubled history of foreign interventions

[ad_1]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry and 18 members of his cabinet have requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops in response to gangs and protesters who have paralyzed the country.

Fuel, water and other basic supplies have dwindled nearly a month after one of Haiti‘s most powerful gangs blocked access to a main fuel terminal in Port-au-Prince where more than 10 million gallons of gasoline and diesel are stored, along with more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene. In addition, demonstrators have blocked roads in the capital and other main cities to demand Henry’s resignation and protest rising fuel prices after the prime minister announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

Gas stations and schools remain shuttered. Banks and grocery stores are operating on a limited schedule.

The United Nations secretary-general has offered the Security Council various options, including the immediate deployment of a rapid action force.

Opponents claim Henry hopes to use foreign troops to keep himself in power – a leadership he assumed last year after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and that many consider illegitimate because he was never elected nor formally confirmed in the post by the legislature. He has failed to set a date for elections, which have not been held since November 2016, but has pledged to do so once the violence is quelled.

Here is a look at previous foreign military interventions in Haiti and the impact they’ve had on the country of more than 11 million people:

HOW MANY FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTIONS HAVE THERE BEEN IN HAITI?

Since the early 1900s, there have been at least three major foreign military interventions in Haiti led by the United States and the United Nations.

The U.S. first occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934.

Nearly 60 years later, the U.N. launched a peacekeeping mission in 1993, followed by the arrival of U.S. troops in 1994. Another intervention occurred in 2004. The first of those was to restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power. The second followed a rebellion that removed him again.

WHAT LED TO THE INTERVENTIONS?

The interventions came at moments of great political instability.

Seven Haitian presidents were ousted or killed from 1911 to 1915, prompting U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to send U.S marines to Haiti in 1914. The U.S. removed half a million dollars from the Haitian National Bank for alleged safekeeping in New York. A formal U.S. occupation began in July 1915 and lasted until August 1934.

In September 1994, the U.S. sent more than 20,000 troops and two aircraft carriers to Haiti as part of an operation dubbed “Restore Democracy” under President Bill Clinton. The aim was to restore to power Aristide, who had been ousted in a 1991 military coup. Aristide had become Haiti’s first democratically elected president the year before. A smaller contingent of U.S. troops remained in Haiti until early 2000, often under U.N. auspices.

A parallel United Nations peacekeeping effort was launched in September 1993 and ran until 2000.

Aristide was overthrown again in February 2004 in a rebellion originally launched by a street gang. The U.S., which had pushed him to resign, flew Aristide out of the country and sent troops — as did Canada, France and Chile. They were soon replaced by troops of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, which stayed until 2017.

WHAT IMPACT HAVE FOREIGN INTERVENTIONS HAD ON HAITI?

Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said that overall, “The occupations didn’t really improve anything in Haiti.”

He said the 1915-1934 occupation created a unified Haitian military, which was the country’s dominant force until the dictatorial regime of François Duvalier and later his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, from 1957 to 1986.

The occupation also established a type of unpaid forced labor known as “corvée” in which U.S. officials used Haitian peasants to build roads, railroads and other infrastructure.

“The occupation was very coercive,” Fatton said. “It was also very centralizing and … very racist.”

He said the second intervention in 1994 was more popular because it helped restore the charismatic Aristide, a former priest who once served poor communities.

The invasion led to the creation of Haiti’s National Police, which effectively replaced the Haitian Army that was disbanded in 1995, though many police officers were former soldiers.

However, there were two failed couple attempts during that occupation and deepening political chaos.

The U.N.’s 2004-2017 peacekeeping mission was marred by allegations of sexual assault by its troops and staffers and the fact that peacekeepers from Nepal were blamed for introducing cholera into Haiti’s largest river in October 2010 by sewage runoff from their base. The U.N. has since acknowledged it played a role in the epidemic and that it had not done enough to help fight it, but it has not specifically acknowledged it introduced the disease.

Fatton said that while the U.N. mission “established a modicum of order,” in Haiti, it was a “very repressive organization.”

“To destroy gangs, they used forceful means. That left a very bad taste with poor Haitians,” he said, noting that they live side-by-side with gangs in slums. “Whether you’re with the gangs or not, you suffered the consequences.”

[ad_2]

Source link

October 11, 2022
UN mulls quick foreign troop deployment to ease Haiti crisis

[ad_1]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The United Nations Security Council on Monday was evaluating options including the immediate activation of foreign troops to help free Haiti from the grip of gangs that has caused a scarcity of fuel, water and other basic supplies.

Such a force would “remove the threat posed by armed gangs and provide immediate protection to critical infrastructure and services,” as well as secure the “free movement of water, fuel, food and medical supplies from main ports and airports to communities and health care facilities,” according to a letter U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres submitted to the council on Sunday.

The letter, which was seen by The Associated Press and has not been made public, said one or several member states would deploy the force to help Haiti’s National Police.

It also states the secretary-general may deploy “additional U.N. capacities to support a ceasefire or humanitarian arrangements.”

However, the letter notes that “a return to a more robust United Nations engagement in the form of peacekeeping remains a last resort if no decisive action is urgently taken by the international community in line with the outlined options and national law enforcement capacity proves unable to reverse the deteriorating security situation.”

The letter was submitted after Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry and 18 high-ranking officials requested from international partners “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity,” to stop the “criminal actions” of armed gangs across the country.

The request comes nearly a month after one of Haiti’s most powerful gangs seized control of a key fuel terminal in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where some 10 million gallons of diesel and gasoline and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene are stored.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators also have barricaded streets in Port-au-Prince and other major cities in recent weeks, preventing the flow of goods and traffic as part of an ongoing protest against a spike in the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene.

Gas stations and schools are closed, while banks and grocery stores are operating on a limited schedule.

Regis Wilguens, a 52-year-old businessman, said he doesn’t believe the anticipated arrival of foreign troops would change anything.

“The results are always the same,” he said. “The social problems and economic problems have never been solved.”

Protesters are demanding the resignation of Henry, who announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

The deepening paralysis has caused supplies of fuel, water and other basic goods to dwindle amid a cholera outbreak that has killed several people and sickened dozens of others, with health officials warning that the situation could worsen.

On Sunday, Haitian senators signed a document demanding that Henry’s “de facto government” defer its request for deployment of foreign troops, saying it is illegal under local laws.

A spokesman for Henry could not be reached for comment.

The possible presence of international armed forces is something that bothers Georges Ubin, a 44-year-old accountant, who said he knows of people who have been victimized by peacekeepers and believes foreign intervention would not improve things.

“The foreign troops are not going to solve the major problems that Haiti has,” he said. “These are problems that have been around since I was born. It never gets better.”

Haitian officials have not specified what kind of armed forces they’re seeking, with many local leaders rejecting the idea of U.N. peacekeepers, noting that they’ve been accused of sexual assault and of sparking a cholera epidemic that killed nearly 10,000 people during their a 13-year mission in Haiti that ended five years ago.

The letter that the U.N. secretary-general submitted Sunday suggests that the rapid action force be phased out as Haitian police regain control of infrastructure, and that two options could follow: member states establish an international police task force to help and advise local officers or create a special force to help tackle gangs “including through joint strike, isolation and containment operations across the country.”

The letter notes that if member states do not “step forward with bilateral support and financing,” the U.N. operation may be an alternative.

“However, as indicated, a return to U.N. peacekeeping was not the preferred option of the authorities,” it states.

The letter also says the Security Council could decide to strengthen the police component of the current United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH, and to call on member states to provide additional equipment and training to local police, which are understaffed and lack resources. Only about a third of some 13,000 are operational in a country of more than 11 million people.

The secretary-general said the issue is a matter of urgency, noting Haiti “is facing an outbreak of cholera amid a dramatic deterioration in security that has paralyzed the country.”

On Monday, Global Affairs Canada said it was extremely concerned about the impact of armed gang activity that has reached “an unprecedented level.”

“We are carefully considering Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s appeal in consultation with Haitian authorities and our international partners,” the department said.

It added that it supports targeted sanctions to stop armed gangs and those who finance violence and insecurity in Haiti.

The U.S. Embassy in Haiti has granted temporarily leave to personnel and urged U.S. citizens to immediately leave the country.

As U.N. officials and member states mull Haiti’s request, some people including 35-year-old Allens Hemest hope to see troops arrive soon. He is unemployed. Until recently, he worked at a factory that produced plastic cups but shut down amid the crisis.

“The whole city is under siege,” he said. “If this is going to bring peace, I’m all for it. We can’t continue living like this.”

———

Associated Press reporters Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 10, 2022