A safe pair of hands take charge of EU force in Chad

The EU mission to Chad and the Central African Republic which was launched by EU foreign ministers yesterday is the most ambitious European peacekeeping mission to date, writes Lara Marlowe.

It also marks the first time that an Irish officer, Lieut Gen Pat Nash, has served as the overall commander of an international peacekeeping operation.

The initial force of some 1,100 men from Ireland, France, Austria, Belgium and Sweden will begin deployment to Chad this week, followed shortly by an Italian field hospital.

The force's one-year mandate will begin in early March when "initial operational capability" is reached, and "full operational capability" of 3,700, including 400 Irish, is expected by June, before the rainy season starts.

EUfor has been tasked by the UN to create a secure environment for hundreds of thousands of refugees from Darfur, Chadians displaced by the insurgency in their own country, tens of thousands of humanitarian aid workers, and the 350-strong UN police-training mission Minurcat. That's a lot to ask in the midst of two rebellions and a proxy war between Chad and Sudan.

Yet Gen Nash believes the Irish Defence Forces are "particularly well-suited to such appointments". This mission makes clear "the recognition that we are a professional defence force who can contribute to major operations, not alone at lower levels, but also at senior management level," he says. "We need to make a success of this for the image of the defence forces . . . That's important to me."

President Nicolas Sarkozy raised the possibility of Irish participation in EUfor over lunch with the Taoiseach in Paris last September. Chad remains virtually a French protectorate, with French troops keeping the embattled president, Idriss Déby, in power.

Did Sarko hoodwink Bertie? The foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, thought it necessary to reassure France's European partners yesterday that EUfor is not going to prop up Déby.

Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has said Irish troops in Chad must not be perceived as instruments of French policy. How do they achieve this? I asked Gen Nash. "It's a great challenge for us," he said. I couldn't help glancing at the French colonel taking notes down the table.

"It's a challenge we have taken on board from the very start," the general continued. "First of all, let's give credit to France . . . Logistically, they took the lead on January 11th, and that has been been crucial in my decision-making. That is vital for us . . . My challenge is to disengage EUfor from previous French."

Fourteen nations will participate in the Chad deployment, while officers from 21 countries work in Gen Nash's headquarters at Mont Valérien, west of Paris. He first priority will be "a very professional information campaign" directed at "the local population, NGOs, the UN, Europe" stressing the international nature of EUfor.

"It will be seen that we are moving away from French camps, flying the European flag. We will build on the whole question of being international and European and, I won't say non-French, but . . . it will be European flag."

An officer with extensive experience in overseas operations, Gen Nash comes across as the proverbial "safe pair of hands". Chad, he notes, has "no infrastructure whatsoever," is 5,000km from Brussels and more than 2,000km from the nearest seaport at Douala, Cameroon. If EUfor soldiers are seriously wounded, they will be evacuated on a seven-hour flight to Europe.

When Gen Nash served in the Balkans "there were old factories, abandoned school houses that you could adapt with minimal military engineer resources. There were usually sewage facilities and water that the military could get working. That's not there. We are talking about brown field situations".

EUfor has identified seven principal locations in eastern Chad. It may do some patrols, and set up temporary positions as the need arises, but there is no question of check-points and outposts like the Unifil positions that dotted southern Lebanon. "We cannot in an area of operations that is half the size of France, with 3,700 people," Gen Nash explains.

A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded EUfor would need 12,500 men to fulfil its mission. "If you had a wish list, you would have thousands and thousands of troops," Gen Nash admits. "It is not practical or feasible . . . The UN would like an awful lot more support from us. I am not in a position to give it. But I am in a position to influence the situation with what I've got."

Gen Nash says he must plan for casualties, no matter how much he hopes they will not occur. The rebels "may not run away, but we hope they won't challenge us . . . These are brave people. Down through the centuries they have shown themselves to be professional soldiers and have fought for other armies, maybe like Ireland of a long time ago . . . For us to do our task, our mission, we will not become part of the internal conflict situation. That's not my mandate and I must absolutely steer clear of it."

Gen Nash was playing golf last autumn when he received a phone call from Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen Dermot Early, asking whether he'd be interested in the job. It has been "a very steep learning curve", he says.

But somehow, 42 years' experience in the Irish Defence Forces seem to have come together in this appointment.

His first posting to Cyprus in 1967 was "my first culture shock" and taught him about "inter-ethnic conflict in villages, and two different cultures and religions".

Lebanon taught him "a different manifestation of the same issues, in a broader international context" as well as "the daunting problems of any peacekeeping mission at the practical, hands-on, company command level".

In September, he will make a recommendation regarding the possible renewal of EUfor's mandate. Once his mission is over, he says, "I am looking forward to retiring to Cork and hitting a small white ball."