Thanks to Kristoffer for the links.
First read the story here, and here.
UPDATE 1! I wanted to give a day for people to weigh in before I offered my opinion. The Filipino soldiers did the warrior thing. You never surrender if you have the means to resist. A commander that orders the surrender of a combat capable unit is issuing an unlawful order and it is to be ignored and if in the field, he is to be arrested/relieved of command.
Cliff Notes? Syrian Rebels surrounded Philippine troops. Philippine troops broke out, escaped, evaded...whatever...they made it to safety. Indian General in charge calls them unprofessional because he was working on safe passage. On this I'm a bit fuzzy. Did the Rebels have other captives and they wanted to safeguard them too? I'm not sure.
I'm not positive on the exact details although I had read that the UN had forces in trouble there....what I do know is this. Any force that operates under the UN banner is going to be much less effective than if it operated under its nations colors. This seems like a ton of bullshit stuffed in 8oz bottle.
UPDATE 1! I wanted to give a day for people to weigh in before I offered my opinion. The Filipino soldiers did the warrior thing. You never surrender if you have the means to resist. A commander that orders the surrender of a combat capable unit is issuing an unlawful order and it is to be ignored and if in the field, he is to be arrested/relieved of command.
Cliff Notes? Syrian Rebels surrounded Philippine troops. Philippine troops broke out, escaped, evaded...whatever...they made it to safety. Indian General in charge calls them unprofessional because he was working on safe passage. On this I'm a bit fuzzy. Did the Rebels have other captives and they wanted to safeguard them too? I'm not sure.
I'm not positive on the exact details although I had read that the UN had forces in trouble there....what I do know is this. Any force that operates under the UN banner is going to be much less effective than if it operated under its nations colors. This seems like a ton of bullshit stuffed in 8oz bottle.
You know what, I never get one thing... why Blue Helmets are castrated. They almost never have the right to defend themselves. There should be the common knowledge that you "Don't Fuck with Blues"... not "Fuck them, Fuck them really good".
ReplyDeleteAnd THIS?!
"Singha ordered Filipinos troops just to lay down their arms and wave the white flag when attacked again by the Syrian rebels."
WHAT DA FUCK IS THIS!!!
Some of them was captured, right?
Delete45 Fijians...
DeleteBTW: how the hell 45 soldiers get themselves captured?!
Raising the white flag.... Not all of them fought back.
DeleteI wonder what will happen to them.
they're gonna die. its almost a certainty.
DeleteYup, all we have to do is wait for the beheadings
DeleteFrom what medias reported here, UN soldiers from the Fidji islands were taken captive while two groups of philipino were surrounded before they fought and reached their main bases. The Fidji soldiers are still in the hands of the rebels ("moderate" islamists, not ISIS) who are negociating for their organization to be taken off the list of terror threats and some money.
ReplyDeleteThese groups constantly negotiate hostage swaps. I can see it happening here.
DeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteThis is how the story has been reported here in Israel, in the TOI, though it seems the TOI just quotes news agencies without elaborating too much on their reports:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-rebels-attack-un-peacekeepers-in-the-golan/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/all-filipino-peacekeepers-escape-golan-standoff/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/filipino-force-defied-un-commander-in-golan-crisis/
If the facts are accurately reported here - and given the poor record of the Blue Helmets in our area, there is every reason to believe it is the case - the Philippine soldiers are vindicated and deserve our utmost respect and our congratulations, and their country can be proud of them.
Thank you for your excellent blog and for your warm support when we were under rockets fire.
totally agree. I expect to see a mass execution shortly after the NATO meeting. ISIS wants the stage to themselves and they want Western forces in the middle east. that will do it.
DeleteWell, the Filipinos and the Irish did what soldiers do; and the poor Fijians followed orders. The result is that the Fijians are no SOL. Press reports say that ISIS/L is now thinking of trying them according to their Islamist law. If it comes to that, that won't go well.
ReplyDeleteWeaponsman had a good post on this: http://weaponsman.com/?p=17607
thanks for the link. blog updated. those soldiers are already dead. they just don't know it.
DeleteWhy do they even have guns if their ROE pretty doesn't allows it? What the fuck. Why have rules so restrictive if they are leading with the worst of the worst?
ReplyDeletePoor fuckers are so dead now.
I think there is a reason why the UN, Indian Army and Phillipines Army has still not released any official statement regarding this issue. What that reason is, is still a mystery- Maybe they are still negotiating for the release of the Fijians, maybe they are themselves not sure of the events that unfolded and are carrying out an investigation.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, looking at India's record at UN operations and the profile of the officer in concern I am sure the Surrender Orders did not come from him. And from the get go......lets not make this into an India/Phillipnes issue.
It certainly is not an India/Phillipines issue. It is a consistent UN issue. Consider how UN forces had to step out of the way when Egypt was ready to attack Israel in '73. The local UN commander actually briefly looked for ways to resist; but he had no institutional backing.
DeleteThe same with UN forces in south Lebanon in the 80s (as I commented at Weaponsman blog). They weren't going to tangle with terrorists, and they often ended up in the way of IDF troops in the middle of a hot pursuit of terrorists. And when Israeli troops entered en masse in '82, the UN troops briefly got in the way and then quickly got out of the way; because they have no mandate to anything more than that.
I do not know about other places in the world; but all around Israel's borders UN troops have been consistently and constantly impotent and ineffectual with a very few exceptions. The poor guys have no authority to do anything, including no authority to properly defend themselves.
--- "You never surrender if you have the means to resist. A commander that orders the surrender of a combat capable unit is issuing an unlawful order and it is to be ignored and if in the field, he is to be arrested/relieved of command."--- To include shooting the commander if those actions are out in the open and may cause a route (only works if you have a strong command presence under him)... and then suffer the actions of a court martial later if you are still alive to have the luxury.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds great in theory, but, it all depends.
DeleteAfter the Falklands War, a lot of Argentine Officers were, in various ways, punished for unlawful surrenders.
It was unlawful to surrender unless 50% of the men were casualties and 75% of the ammunition had been fired.
Its all well and good to be able to resist, but if that resistance is pointless?
If you are beaten, what purpose does it solve ordering more of your men to die? Just so you can be thoroughly beaten.
During the war in Ex-Yougoslavia, a Danish Lt. Colonel serving in the UNPROFOR returned fire ....
ReplyDeletehttp://modernerawargaming.blogspot.dk/2013/01/danish-leopards-in-bosnia-1994.html#!/2013/01/danish-leopards-in-bosnia-1994.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_B%C3%B8llebank