Crossing the Mogadishu Line before Somalia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogadishu_Line
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/173/30474.html


Although 'Crossing the Mogadishu line' only became a phrase popular after BHD in 1993, in fact IMO this concept was already active much earlier- in fact, as far back as the 1960s when ONUC peacekeepers in the Congo became actively involved in combatting the Katanga secession, thereby crossing the line as theoretically impartial referees to become combatants against the white mercenaries & Katangese gendarmerie. Of course, after Mogadishu, the Line was also crossed in 1994/95 in Bosnia, when NATO bombed the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating table, in conjunction with a strengthened UNPROFOR Rapid Reaction Force opening fire owith 155mm shells on the Serbs near Mount Igman, & the HV's Operation STORM.

WI more such UN PKOs had also crossed the Mogadishu Line before Somalia ? WI say Blue Helmets in other places ended up becoming directly invovled in shooting matches after extensive provocations by 1 side or another in a particularly contested conflict zone ? This came close to happening in Cyprus in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of the north, when RAF F-4 Phantoms at the Akrotiri & Larnaca airbases were alerted to support British & other UNFICYP peacekeepers in case of active hostilities with the Turks, while similarly in 1992/93, there were similar tenesions between UNTAC & the Khmer Rouge over the latter's refusal to disarm as part of the Prais Peace Accords- WI the Mogadishu Line had indeed been crossed by UN peacekeepers stepping over into peace-enforcement ? WI other instances occurred in places like Lebanon- if UNIFIL Blue Helmets became actively engaged against say Palestinian, AMAL or HEZBOLLAH irregulars after the kidnap & murder of certain UN personnel (the fate of a few unfortunate young Irish soldiers, & also a fate narrowly avoided by an Australian UNMO in the early 1980s- Capt Jim Wallace- who later became CO of the Australian SASR & is now head of the Australian Christian Lobby [I've met him, too] ), or perhaps against IDF forces at some point like during Op PEACE FOR GALILEE in 1982 or after the 'accidental' bombardment of the Fijian UNIFIL compound in 1996 ?
 

MacCaulay

Banned
WI more such UN PKOs had also crossed the Mogadishu Line before Somalia ? WI say Blue Helmets in other places ended up becoming directly invovled in shooting matches after extensive provocations by 1 side or another in a particularly contested conflict zone ? This came close to happening in Cyprus in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of the north, when RAF F-4 Phantoms at the Akrotiri & Larnaca airbases were alerted to support British & other UNFICYP peacekeepers in case of active hostilities with the Turks,

From Canadian Airborne Forces since 1942:

The Airborne's next operational test came nearly four years later. It began in April 1974 with the rotation of 1 Commando to the island of Cyprus, as part of the Canadian commitment to the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
...on 15 July the pressure cooker erupted as violent firefights raged throughout the capital city of Nicosia. By noon it became apparent that the Greek Cypriot National Guard had launched a coup d'etat and was now in total control of the government. Five days later the crisis escalated immeasurably when, in the early morning, an invasion of the island was launched by the Turkish armed forces spearheaded by paratroop drops.
By 24 July the situation had stabilized...enabling the bulk of the Airborne Regiment to augment the UN Canadian contingent that included 1 Commando. The Airborne Regiment commander, Col. G.H. Lessard, subsequently assumed command on 2 August. Now...the contingent...began to flex it's muscle and insist on freedom of movement. On numerous occasions roadblocks put up by Turkish forces and the Greek National Guard were forcibly removed. In addition, more observation posts were established and the entirety of [the previously evacuated] No Man's Land was heavily patrolled.
By mid-August 1974 UNFICYP was again put on heightened alert; and at dawn on 14 August the second phase of the Turkish offensive began. Both sides quickly began to deliberately target UN forces.

Another book, Tested Mettle: Canada's Peacekeepers at War, describes removing the roadblocks as "fighting from one side of Cyprus to the other."


The other large one for me was probably the Medak Pocket in Bosnia, which was the largest UN firefight since Korea. Canadian and French troops attacked and took dug in artillery and infantry positions away from Croats that were shelling a Serb village.
Things like that were very likely, and even around Medak, it could've happened more than once: the Croats were stonewalling to get away with more ethnic cleansing. The Canadian troops on the ground were trying to get into the Serb villages to put themselves into a position to stop it, but couldn't push any harder with the manpower they had at the time. Had they been there with...say...even one Leopard tank, they could've made the call to rush the barricade in front of Medak as soon as they got there.
 

HJ Tulp

Donor
I don't think you can call the Canadian Operations on Cyprus 'crossing the Mogadishu Line' as, CAF since 1942 says, they fought both the Greeks and the Turks.

Likewise the operations in Bosnia, the UN didn't take sides as they did in Somalia.
 

Sachyriel

Banned
So if the UN troops in Rwanda had acted to prevent the slaughter without permission from up high would they be renegades or crossing the Mogadishu Line?
 
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