01-05-2017, 11:05 PM
*** 6-Jan-17 World View -- New armed militia emerges in Central African Republic: Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R)
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** New armed militia emerges in Central African Republic: Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R)
****
![[Image: g170105b.jpg]](http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170105b.jpg)
A UN convoy with Moroccan peacekeepers like this one was attacked on Wednesday
The Central African Republic (CAR) has been riven since 2013 by a
civil war mainly between the Muslim Séléka militias and the Christian
anti-Balaka militias. However, there are numerous other ethnic
militias, including vigilante groups made up of nomadic, predominantly
Muslim Fulani herders, as well as others specializing in highway
robbery. All of these groups have been guilty of massacres, rapes,
scorched earth attacks, and other atrocities, often in revenge for
similar attacks by a militia on the other side.
One of the Muslim Fulani herder groups, the Peul tribe, has emerged as
a relative new militia group inflicting horrors on civilians in the
northwest of CAR, particularly near the borders of Cameroon and Chad.
Although they have been mainly allied with the Muslim Séléka militias,
fighting against the Christian anti-Balakas, they also claim on
occasion to have fought against Séléka militias for the protection of
their own Peul tribe.
The Peul armed militia is calling itself "Return, Reclamation,
Rehabilitation" or "3R". The group appeared in December 2015, and
throughout 2016 they burned down villages, causing tens of thousands
of civilians to lose their homes. They've killed and raped civilians,
and committed other atrocities.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted interviews in November, and
documented numerous atrocities and murders. One 30-year-old woman
said that 3R fighters broke into her home:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"One said, “Where is your husband?” I said that he was
> not there. ... One of them cocked his gun and pointed it at me and
> said, “We are going to have sex with you.” He threw me on the
> ground and [one of them] raped me. Another was waiting for his
> turn, but there was shooting outside while the first one was
> finishing, so when he was done they both left. ... [M]y two
> younger children were right beside me, crying."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
I wish that I could tell you, Dear Reader, that this kind of atrocity
was rare, but it's common fare during a generational crisis war, such
as the war in Central African Republic. Rape and extermination of
opponents is part of the human DNA, and all people of all races and
religions are susceptible, often in a cycle of escalating tit-for-tat
revenge. Human Rights Watch and Reuters
Related Articles
****
**** Central African Republic crisis war continues to spin out of control
****
On Wednesday, a convoy of United Nations peacekeepers in Central
African Republic near the Cameroon border was attacked unknown
assailants who killed two Moroccan peacekeepers and then escaped.
It's not known whether the attackers were from the 3R militias, but
this attack shows that the UN peacekeepers have almost no control in
the country outside the capital city Bangui.
A month ago, Ban Ki-moon, the outgoing Secretary-General of the United
Nations, said that he was "deeply concerned over renewed violence last
week in the Central African Republic." A UN Special Adviser Adama
Dieng added, "Given the country’s recent history, this kind of
targeted violence is extremely dangerous and must be stopped."
It's good to hear UN officials making the hard-hitting statements,
which are sure to convince both the Muslims and the Christians in CAR
to put down their weapons, because other actions by the UN have been
useless, and in a sense may have made things worse.
After a coup in March 2013, Muslim Séléka militias began committing
atrocities, particularly targeting the Christians. In December 2013,
French Foreign Legion peacekeeping troops arrived to disarm the Séléka
militias.
The actions of the French troops backfired. When the Muslim Séléka
troops were disarmed, the Christian anti-Balaka militias "rushed into
the vacuum," and began committing atrocities in 2014, for revenge
against the Sélékas. Since then, both Christians and Muslims have
been committing atrocities, and it's become a full-scale generational
crisis war. Thousands have been killed, and millions have been
displaced.
The French peacekeepers were supposed to remain in CAR for just six
months, until a United Nations force could take over. However, they
remained in CAR for much longer than six months, and their withdrawal
was only announced in October of last year, after several years of
almost total failure. In addition, some of the French peacekeepers
were charged with raping some of the CAR civilians that they were
supposed to be protection. There is now a UN peacekeeping force of
12,500 troops known as MINUSCA, but as Wednesday's attack illustrates,
it hasn't been any more successful.
Actually, I've written about this many times in the last four years.
CAR's last generational crisis war was the 1928-1931 Kongo-Wara
Rebellion ("War of the Hoe Handle"), which was a very long time ago,
putting CAR today deep into a generational Crisis era, where a new
crisis civil war has already started.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, a generational crisis
war cannot be stopped by "peacekeeping troops." It begins when the
traumatized survivors of the previous crisis war are no longer around,
and are no longer able to prevent the younger generations from
starting another crisis war. Massacres and atrocities by both (or
all) sides continue to grow and worsen on a tit-for-tat basis, usually
for five years or more, until there's an "explosive climax," some
genocidal massacre that's so horrific that it brings the war to an
end, and causes the traumatized survivors, both winners and losers, to
vow that they will never let such a war occur again.
UN peacekeeping forces have been more or less successful in minimizing
the violence in one city, the capital city Bangui, but everything
outside of Bangui is completely lawless, and completely out of control
of the peacekeepers. The rise of the 3R militias, and the new
atrocities that it's perpetrating show how far the CAR civil war has
yet to go. United Nations
and International Business Times and RFI
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Central African Republic, CAR, Bangui,
Séléka, anti-Balaka, Fulani, Peul, Cameroon, Chad,
Return - Reclamation - Rehabilitation, 3R, Human Rights Watch,
Ban Ki-moon, Adama Dieng, France, French Foreign Legion, MINUSCA,
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic,
Kongo-Wara Rebellion, War of the Hoe Handle
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- New armed militia emerges in Central African Republic: Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R)
- Central African Republic crisis war continues to spin out of control
****
**** New armed militia emerges in Central African Republic: Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R)
****
A UN convoy with Moroccan peacekeepers like this one was attacked on Wednesday
The Central African Republic (CAR) has been riven since 2013 by a
civil war mainly between the Muslim Séléka militias and the Christian
anti-Balaka militias. However, there are numerous other ethnic
militias, including vigilante groups made up of nomadic, predominantly
Muslim Fulani herders, as well as others specializing in highway
robbery. All of these groups have been guilty of massacres, rapes,
scorched earth attacks, and other atrocities, often in revenge for
similar attacks by a militia on the other side.
One of the Muslim Fulani herder groups, the Peul tribe, has emerged as
a relative new militia group inflicting horrors on civilians in the
northwest of CAR, particularly near the borders of Cameroon and Chad.
Although they have been mainly allied with the Muslim Séléka militias,
fighting against the Christian anti-Balakas, they also claim on
occasion to have fought against Séléka militias for the protection of
their own Peul tribe.
The Peul armed militia is calling itself "Return, Reclamation,
Rehabilitation" or "3R". The group appeared in December 2015, and
throughout 2016 they burned down villages, causing tens of thousands
of civilians to lose their homes. They've killed and raped civilians,
and committed other atrocities.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted interviews in November, and
documented numerous atrocities and murders. One 30-year-old woman
said that 3R fighters broke into her home:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"One said, “Where is your husband?” I said that he was
> not there. ... One of them cocked his gun and pointed it at me and
> said, “We are going to have sex with you.” He threw me on the
> ground and [one of them] raped me. Another was waiting for his
> turn, but there was shooting outside while the first one was
> finishing, so when he was done they both left. ... [M]y two
> younger children were right beside me, crying."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
I wish that I could tell you, Dear Reader, that this kind of atrocity
was rare, but it's common fare during a generational crisis war, such
as the war in Central African Republic. Rape and extermination of
opponents is part of the human DNA, and all people of all races and
religions are susceptible, often in a cycle of escalating tit-for-tat
revenge. Human Rights Watch and Reuters
Related Articles
- Mob rule in Central African Republic as Christians crave revenge (20-Jan-2014)
- Renewed violence in Central African Republic despite peacekeepers (11-Oct-2014)
****
**** Central African Republic crisis war continues to spin out of control
****
On Wednesday, a convoy of United Nations peacekeepers in Central
African Republic near the Cameroon border was attacked unknown
assailants who killed two Moroccan peacekeepers and then escaped.
It's not known whether the attackers were from the 3R militias, but
this attack shows that the UN peacekeepers have almost no control in
the country outside the capital city Bangui.
A month ago, Ban Ki-moon, the outgoing Secretary-General of the United
Nations, said that he was "deeply concerned over renewed violence last
week in the Central African Republic." A UN Special Adviser Adama
Dieng added, "Given the country’s recent history, this kind of
targeted violence is extremely dangerous and must be stopped."
It's good to hear UN officials making the hard-hitting statements,
which are sure to convince both the Muslims and the Christians in CAR
to put down their weapons, because other actions by the UN have been
useless, and in a sense may have made things worse.
After a coup in March 2013, Muslim Séléka militias began committing
atrocities, particularly targeting the Christians. In December 2013,
French Foreign Legion peacekeeping troops arrived to disarm the Séléka
militias.
The actions of the French troops backfired. When the Muslim Séléka
troops were disarmed, the Christian anti-Balaka militias "rushed into
the vacuum," and began committing atrocities in 2014, for revenge
against the Sélékas. Since then, both Christians and Muslims have
been committing atrocities, and it's become a full-scale generational
crisis war. Thousands have been killed, and millions have been
displaced.
The French peacekeepers were supposed to remain in CAR for just six
months, until a United Nations force could take over. However, they
remained in CAR for much longer than six months, and their withdrawal
was only announced in October of last year, after several years of
almost total failure. In addition, some of the French peacekeepers
were charged with raping some of the CAR civilians that they were
supposed to be protection. There is now a UN peacekeeping force of
12,500 troops known as MINUSCA, but as Wednesday's attack illustrates,
it hasn't been any more successful.
Actually, I've written about this many times in the last four years.
CAR's last generational crisis war was the 1928-1931 Kongo-Wara
Rebellion ("War of the Hoe Handle"), which was a very long time ago,
putting CAR today deep into a generational Crisis era, where a new
crisis civil war has already started.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, a generational crisis
war cannot be stopped by "peacekeeping troops." It begins when the
traumatized survivors of the previous crisis war are no longer around,
and are no longer able to prevent the younger generations from
starting another crisis war. Massacres and atrocities by both (or
all) sides continue to grow and worsen on a tit-for-tat basis, usually
for five years or more, until there's an "explosive climax," some
genocidal massacre that's so horrific that it brings the war to an
end, and causes the traumatized survivors, both winners and losers, to
vow that they will never let such a war occur again.
UN peacekeeping forces have been more or less successful in minimizing
the violence in one city, the capital city Bangui, but everything
outside of Bangui is completely lawless, and completely out of control
of the peacekeepers. The rise of the 3R militias, and the new
atrocities that it's perpetrating show how far the CAR civil war has
yet to go. United Nations
and International Business Times and RFI
Related Articles
- France pulls out of Central African Republic as sectarian violence grows (01-Nov-2016)
- France says Central African Republic has totally collapsed (11-Apr-2014)
- France reverts to neo-colonialism, returns to Central African Republic (06-Dec-2013)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Central African Republic, CAR, Bangui,
Séléka, anti-Balaka, Fulani, Peul, Cameroon, Chad,
Return - Reclamation - Rehabilitation, 3R, Human Rights Watch,
Ban Ki-moon, Adama Dieng, France, French Foreign Legion, MINUSCA,
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic,
Kongo-Wara Rebellion, War of the Hoe Handle
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
