Dr Tumasang, All I can warn about this suicidal adventure by Mr Biya at the begining of the New Year is that he should beware of the lessons of history. Once upon a time, Sierra Leone sent a small contigent of its soldiers to support a regional adventure in Liberia to stop the rebellion of Charles Taylor and granted ECOMOG permission to use its territory as a launching ground for military strikes against the rebels. The Liberian rebels in reaction provided support for the Revolutionary United Front for Sierra Leone (RUF) to invade Sierra Leone from territory occupied by them. The result we know is ten years painful years of devastation, which culminated in the Sierra Leonian Soldiers tired of war under very hard conditions led by a corporal orchestrated a mutiny that brought Captain Strasser and Madu Bio to power. When regional leaders brought Ahmed Tejan Kabbah back to power, the Armed Forces Revoultionary Council ( AFRC) led by Major Johnny Paul Koroma again toppled the government leading to a war which ended with the Lome Peace Accord, disarmament of the armed rebels and the creation of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. One potential repercussion of the painful mistake by the government of a neighbouring state to deploy soldiers to intervene in the internal armed conflict in a neighbouring state as it is the case here is that, it may result in inviting the conflict into its own territory with untold consequences. The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Ghankay Charles Taylor, Hassang Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon, Augustine Gbao, Brima, Bazzy Kamara, Tamba Brima ( alias Gullit), Borbor Kanu Santiagie, Moinina Fofana, Kondewa Allieu to long terms of imprisonment. That did not end the matter as young combattants who were disarmed after the peace process in both Liberia and Sierra Leone are a standing force for deployment in conflicts in the subregion. Just look at what happened and is happening in Ivory Coast. Mr Paul Biya and the regional leaders who have deployed soldiers to Central Africa to protect a fellow dictator ignore the fact that peace can never be imposed on a people. The rebellion will not go away just because regional forces have been deployed. A combined ECOMOG and UNAMSIL forces did not defeat the RUF in combat. The war ended at the peace table in Lome. The number of forces deployed is not the problem. The problem is that La Republique du Cameroun does not know for sure when the military adventure it has engaged in will end. It may take years. It may find itself sucked into this conflict which may extend to its territory. This deployment therefore is a declaration of war against the rebel forces. It is strange therefore, that Paul Biya in his state of La Republique address failed to inform his citizens that his country is at war in a neighbouring country. In failing to do so, he has violated the constitution of his country and the laws and customs of war. For indeed, his soldiers may perpertrate war crimes while in Central African Republique just like those of Jean Claude Bemba who were invited by Ange Patase whom Bozozie overthrew. For those crimes, Bemba is standing trial at the ICC. The same may happen to Paul Biya if forces deployed by him perpetrate war crimes or if the rebels like Bozozie in the past succeed to take over power nevertheless and refer the crimes to the ICC eventhough Cameroun is not a state party. For me, and for me alone, I hold the considered opinion that the decision by Mr Biya to deploy his soldiers to Central Africa Republic under these circumstances is a painful mistake with potential serious consequences. Chief Charles Taku. --- On Fri, 1/4/13, Tumasang Martin <tumasangm@hotmail.com> wrote:
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