Blue Helmet: My Year as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan
Autor Edward H. Carpenter Cuvânt înainte de Gen. Apurba Kumar Bardalaien Limba Engleză Hardback – mar 2025
Edward H. Carpenter pulls readers into his world, allowing them to experience the powerful, poignant realities of being a peacekeeper in South Sudan. In the process, the author reveals how the United Nations really conducts its missions: what it tolerates and how it often falls short of achieving the aims of its charter—equal rights, justice, and economic advancement for all people—with the use of armed forces limited to serving those common interests by keeping the peace and preventing the scourge of war. It is a story that is eye-opening, unsettling, and always compelling.
Global leaders may fairly claim that they have done everything they can to help South Sudan help itself: they’ve dispatched thousands of peacekeepers and provided billions of dollars in aid. So why is the UN still struggling to fulfill its mandate to protect civilians and safeguard the delivery of humanitarian assistance? What could be done better? Bringing the reader to the forefront of action, Blue Helmet answers these questions and raises others about how modern peacekeeping missions are organized and overseen, shedding light on some of the contradictions at the heart of peacekeeping.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781640125995
ISBN-10: 164012599X
Pagini: 408
Ilustrații: 20 photographs, 4 maps, 3 appendixes, index
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 mm
Greutate: 0.74 kg
Editura: Potomac Books Inc
Colecția Potomac Books
Locul publicării:United States
ISBN-10: 164012599X
Pagini: 408
Ilustrații: 20 photographs, 4 maps, 3 appendixes, index
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 mm
Greutate: 0.74 kg
Editura: Potomac Books Inc
Colecția Potomac Books
Locul publicării:United States
Notă biografică
Edward H. Carpenter is a retired lieutenant colonel, a veteran of America’s “Long Wars” who served in the U.S. Army and Marines for a total of twenty-nine years, from Afghanistan to Japan, Indonesia to Saudi Arabia. He has written for the Washington Post and is the author of Steven Pressfield’s “The Warrior Ethos”: One Marine Officer’s Critique and Counterpoint. Carpenter is the founder of the nonprofit organization World Without War, to which he is donating his royalties from Blue Helmet.
Extras
1 The Worst Day
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
—George Santayana
10 April 2019. Our mission—to visit a government official at his country
estate to gain insight into human rights violations reported in the area—was
fairly routine. Traveling in a pair of white sport utility vehicles (SUVs)
with a local doctor as our liaison and wearing the traditional blue helmets
of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, we passed through the first several
checkpoints with ease. These roadblocks were a ubiquitous sight in this
war-ravaged nation. They were usually manned by police or soldiers in
and around the capital, but out here in the countryside, the guards wore
the mismatched uniforms characteristic of the local militia. We weren’t
hassled for bribes, but once we were asked for food. “As’eef,” I said in my
poorly accented Juba Arabic. Sorry. The man shrugged and waved us on.
As we approached the turnoff for the official’s residence—a big house set
in a wooded area about a quarter mile off the main road—we passed through
a checkpoint that was unmanned. The circumstance was odd enough that
I halted our little convoy and called our headquarters for guidance, which
was—unsurprisingly—to continue our mission. As we turned onto the
narrow dirt road leading into the wooded area surrounding the house, my
mind was already moving ahead. Would our contact have the information
we needed? How would his armed guards react to a half dozen blue helmets
walking up to the door? Would he c—
The improvised explosive device (IED) exploded to our left, shearing the
front axle and slamming our vehicle to a halt. Even though my ears were
still ringing from the blast, I could hear bullets hitting the right side of the
SUV. I shouted, “Bail out left!”
If it hadn’t been for the lessons drilled into me in our pre-deployment
training, I would have followed my instincts and made my exit in the oppo-
site direction—away from the blast, the fire, and the smoke. Going left was
a dice roll, but it was still a better choice because the vehicle gave us a little
more protection from the incoming rifle fire.
A quick count of the team confirmed my four peacekeepers were up—alive,
uninjured, and returning fire. Our helmets and body armor had done
their jobs. The doctor was not so lucky; his body had been thrown clear of
the vehicle and lay a few feet away, his left leg partially severed. Blood was
soaking his shirt from some upper body trauma. I had no idea what exactly.
I shouted at the team to lay down covering fire, grabbed my buddy Mack,
and sprinted toward the doctor. He was not a small man, and the weight of
his unconscious body, slick with blood, defied our first attempt to lift him.
Forced to settle for an undignified drag, we managed to get him back to the
cover of the vehicle, where we put a tourniquet on his leg and strapped him
to a stretcher made of flexible plastic that could be hauled across the ground.
Kneeling over our doctor-turned- patient, I also realized that we were
outgunned and running low on ammunition. I had already handed both
of my extra magazines to the other peacekeepers who were still returning
fire. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. We were here as observers,
and most of our colleagues traveled unarmed. We Americans, Canadians,
Australians, and Germans were the only ones who carried weapons, which
were nothing more threatening than pistols.
Bullets continued to hum through the air above us and smack into the
side of our vehicle as we crouched behind it in a slick mixture of blood and
sweat. We had to get to a more defensible position and quickly. Frantically
scanning for an escape, I glimpsed a house on the other side of the road we’d
just left. Shouting an order to pull back, I drew my pistol and led the way at
a sprint. Mack and Danny followed, dragging the doctor on the stretcher,
and behind them—still firing their pistols toward the muzzle flashes in the
trees—came Christopher and Emm.
We made it to the building, cleared and occupied a room, and treated
the doctor. We applied a chest seal to plug the wound in his right side;
performed an essential, albeit gruesome needle decompression to allow
his collapsed lung to expand; and ran a nasopharyngeal airway down his
nose and into his throat to help him breathe easier. I had just called for the
quick reaction force and a medevac helicopter when I heard our instructors
shouting, “endex! endex! endex!” The exercise was over. This “worst day”
was just to prepare us for the real thing.
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
—George Santayana
10 April 2019. Our mission—to visit a government official at his country
estate to gain insight into human rights violations reported in the area—was
fairly routine. Traveling in a pair of white sport utility vehicles (SUVs)
with a local doctor as our liaison and wearing the traditional blue helmets
of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, we passed through the first several
checkpoints with ease. These roadblocks were a ubiquitous sight in this
war-ravaged nation. They were usually manned by police or soldiers in
and around the capital, but out here in the countryside, the guards wore
the mismatched uniforms characteristic of the local militia. We weren’t
hassled for bribes, but once we were asked for food. “As’eef,” I said in my
poorly accented Juba Arabic. Sorry. The man shrugged and waved us on.
As we approached the turnoff for the official’s residence—a big house set
in a wooded area about a quarter mile off the main road—we passed through
a checkpoint that was unmanned. The circumstance was odd enough that
I halted our little convoy and called our headquarters for guidance, which
was—unsurprisingly—to continue our mission. As we turned onto the
narrow dirt road leading into the wooded area surrounding the house, my
mind was already moving ahead. Would our contact have the information
we needed? How would his armed guards react to a half dozen blue helmets
walking up to the door? Would he c—
The improvised explosive device (IED) exploded to our left, shearing the
front axle and slamming our vehicle to a halt. Even though my ears were
still ringing from the blast, I could hear bullets hitting the right side of the
SUV. I shouted, “Bail out left!”
If it hadn’t been for the lessons drilled into me in our pre-deployment
training, I would have followed my instincts and made my exit in the oppo-
site direction—away from the blast, the fire, and the smoke. Going left was
a dice roll, but it was still a better choice because the vehicle gave us a little
more protection from the incoming rifle fire.
A quick count of the team confirmed my four peacekeepers were up—alive,
uninjured, and returning fire. Our helmets and body armor had done
their jobs. The doctor was not so lucky; his body had been thrown clear of
the vehicle and lay a few feet away, his left leg partially severed. Blood was
soaking his shirt from some upper body trauma. I had no idea what exactly.
I shouted at the team to lay down covering fire, grabbed my buddy Mack,
and sprinted toward the doctor. He was not a small man, and the weight of
his unconscious body, slick with blood, defied our first attempt to lift him.
Forced to settle for an undignified drag, we managed to get him back to the
cover of the vehicle, where we put a tourniquet on his leg and strapped him
to a stretcher made of flexible plastic that could be hauled across the ground.
Kneeling over our doctor-turned- patient, I also realized that we were
outgunned and running low on ammunition. I had already handed both
of my extra magazines to the other peacekeepers who were still returning
fire. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. We were here as observers,
and most of our colleagues traveled unarmed. We Americans, Canadians,
Australians, and Germans were the only ones who carried weapons, which
were nothing more threatening than pistols.
Bullets continued to hum through the air above us and smack into the
side of our vehicle as we crouched behind it in a slick mixture of blood and
sweat. We had to get to a more defensible position and quickly. Frantically
scanning for an escape, I glimpsed a house on the other side of the road we’d
just left. Shouting an order to pull back, I drew my pistol and led the way at
a sprint. Mack and Danny followed, dragging the doctor on the stretcher,
and behind them—still firing their pistols toward the muzzle flashes in the
trees—came Christopher and Emm.
We made it to the building, cleared and occupied a room, and treated
the doctor. We applied a chest seal to plug the wound in his right side;
performed an essential, albeit gruesome needle decompression to allow
his collapsed lung to expand; and ran a nasopharyngeal airway down his
nose and into his throat to help him breathe easier. I had just called for the
quick reaction force and a medevac helicopter when I heard our instructors
shouting, “endex! endex! endex!” The exercise was over. This “worst day”
was just to prepare us for the real thing.
Cuprins
List of Illustrations
Foreword by A. K. Bardalai
Preface
Abbreviations
Part 1. The Call to Adventure
1. The Worst Day
2. Origin Story
3. Big Men, Strong Women
4. A Short History of South Sudan
5. Africa Wants to Kill You
6. The Land That TIME Forgot
7. Through American Eyes
8. Shoot, Move, and Resuscitate
9. Into Africa
10. A Short History of Peacekeeping
11. Disastrous Passions
12. Louder Than Words
Part 2. Crossing the Threshold
13. Boots on the Ground
14. Colleagues, Caveats, and Contingency Plans
15. Freedom of Movement
16. The Lay of the Land
17. Easy Buttons and Hard Truths
18. An Outsider Looks In
19. International Relations
20. A Disturbance in the Force
21. The Agony of JMAC
22. Coordinated Assessment
23. Orders in Work
24. Unity!
25. Women, Peace, and Security
26. Rhythm and the Rains
27. The Tigers of South Sudan
28. Inconceivable
29. UNMISS Inaction
30. Fraying at the Edges
31. Things Fall Apart
32. No Country for Young Men
33. Strong Medicine for Tanks
34. Riek Machar versus the World
35. Until the First Bullet Flies
36. Juba Social Club
37. Nonworking Group
38. Friendsgiving
39. Clash of Clans
40. The Road Less Traveled
41. Up the Creek
42. A Long December
43. The Far Edge of the Empire
44. History Will Judge Us
45. Hub and Spoke
46. Not All Lives
47. A Sad State of Affairs
48. The Chance to Make a Difference
49. Maybe Just Once
50. Reconciliation and Rumors of War
51. Peace on Paper, Army on the Move
52. Troubled Waters
53. This Is It, Your Excellency
Part 3. The Ordeal
54. Crimes against Humanity
55. Come to Count the Dead
56. Potemkin Would Be Proud
57. Death by a Thousand Cuts
58. That Safari Way of Life
59. Calling It What It Is
60. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
61. Juggling Act
62. Love in the Time of Coronavirus
63. Such Sweet Sorrow
Part 4. The Long Road Back
64. The Bitter End?
65. For the Record
66. August and Everything After
67. Admiring the Problem
68. Changing the Guard, Rewriting the Histories
69. Post-Traumatic
70. Good Offices
71. Slow-Moving Crises, Widespread Problems
72. How to Change the World
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Ways to Improve the Protection of Civilians
Appendix B: Policy Recommendations for the United States
Appendix C: Resources and Recommended Reading
Notes
Index
Foreword by A. K. Bardalai
Preface
Abbreviations
Part 1. The Call to Adventure
1. The Worst Day
2. Origin Story
3. Big Men, Strong Women
4. A Short History of South Sudan
5. Africa Wants to Kill You
6. The Land That TIME Forgot
7. Through American Eyes
8. Shoot, Move, and Resuscitate
9. Into Africa
10. A Short History of Peacekeeping
11. Disastrous Passions
12. Louder Than Words
Part 2. Crossing the Threshold
13. Boots on the Ground
14. Colleagues, Caveats, and Contingency Plans
15. Freedom of Movement
16. The Lay of the Land
17. Easy Buttons and Hard Truths
18. An Outsider Looks In
19. International Relations
20. A Disturbance in the Force
21. The Agony of JMAC
22. Coordinated Assessment
23. Orders in Work
24. Unity!
25. Women, Peace, and Security
26. Rhythm and the Rains
27. The Tigers of South Sudan
28. Inconceivable
29. UNMISS Inaction
30. Fraying at the Edges
31. Things Fall Apart
32. No Country for Young Men
33. Strong Medicine for Tanks
34. Riek Machar versus the World
35. Until the First Bullet Flies
36. Juba Social Club
37. Nonworking Group
38. Friendsgiving
39. Clash of Clans
40. The Road Less Traveled
41. Up the Creek
42. A Long December
43. The Far Edge of the Empire
44. History Will Judge Us
45. Hub and Spoke
46. Not All Lives
47. A Sad State of Affairs
48. The Chance to Make a Difference
49. Maybe Just Once
50. Reconciliation and Rumors of War
51. Peace on Paper, Army on the Move
52. Troubled Waters
53. This Is It, Your Excellency
Part 3. The Ordeal
54. Crimes against Humanity
55. Come to Count the Dead
56. Potemkin Would Be Proud
57. Death by a Thousand Cuts
58. That Safari Way of Life
59. Calling It What It Is
60. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
61. Juggling Act
62. Love in the Time of Coronavirus
63. Such Sweet Sorrow
Part 4. The Long Road Back
64. The Bitter End?
65. For the Record
66. August and Everything After
67. Admiring the Problem
68. Changing the Guard, Rewriting the Histories
69. Post-Traumatic
70. Good Offices
71. Slow-Moving Crises, Widespread Problems
72. How to Change the World
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Ways to Improve the Protection of Civilians
Appendix B: Policy Recommendations for the United States
Appendix C: Resources and Recommended Reading
Notes
Index
Recenzii
“Blue Helmet reveals the inside story of the challenges of protecting civilians in conflict. . . . If you are passionate about the protection of civilians, this book will prove an invaluable resource—because Carpenter doesn’t just show what is wrong with existing civilian protection measures; he offers practical advice on how to fix them.”—Marc Garlasco, division chief for the U.S. Department of Defense Civilian Protection Center of Excellence
“Edward Carpenter has painted a rich and incisive portrait of what it means to be a warrior on a mission of peace in Africa. Carpenter draws on the personal details of his own experience to demonstrate what kind of individual is inclined to work in such contexts and the impact that the mission has on the person. I learned a lot about South Sudan but also a great deal about how peacekeeping operations function and how those who keep the peace also keep their sanity.”—Robert Farley, senior lecturer at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and senior editor at Lawyers, Guns, and Money
“Edward Carpenter’s Blue Helmet is an insider’s story about a world that most of us will never know. He has written a shocking, informative, at times hard, and yet very entertaining memoir: a human-sized portrait of a UN peacekeeper in South Sudan. This book is a bridge between cultures, an action-packed tour, and a wise look at how countries—and the people in them—become themselves.”—Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, author of She Never Told Me about the Ocean and Awake with Asashoryu and Other Essays
Descriere
Blue Helmet tells the story of a U.S. Marine working to translate the words of his UN leaders into actions capable of protecting civilians in South Sudan.