Peacekeepers in Darfur Hobbled by Need

U.N.-African Union Force Short of Funds, Soldiers, Equipment peacekeeping mission to Darfur is struggling, with fewer than half the soldiers promised, broken-down equipment, government obstacles, and what commanders say are the unrealistically high expectations of a world that has failed to support them. The mission, the largest peacekeeping force in U.N. history, was to be the robust replacement for an underfunded, poorly equipped A.U. force that has been on the ground since 2004. But of the 26,000 police and soldiers who were to deploy to protect civilians in this region of western Sudan, only 140 Bangladeshi police and a smattering of officers, engineers and U.N. bureaucrats have arrived. The rest of the 8,000 or so troops in the field are holdovers from the old A.U. mission -- soldiers who merely painted their green... [read full story]