Sudan agrees to 26,000 UN troops in Darfur

Article summary:

The Security Council resolution, passed unanimously on Tuesday, would have boots on the ground by the end of the year.

The force will be largely composed of Africans and will consist of nearly 20,000 military personnel and 6,000 police officers. Known as the UN African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the force is expected to select its commanders by October and take over operations from the 7,000 African Union (AU) peacekeepers currently in Sudan by the end of the year, reports the UN News Service. For the first 12 months, UN forces will incorporate the AU troops into their mission.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the mission "historic and unprecedented." It will come after months of Sudanese resistance and will cost about $2 billion in its first year, reports The New York Times.

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While there are no words to describe the horror that persists in Darfur and the urgent need for a world response, one has to ask if spending 2 billion dollars a year to build an army of 26,000 mostly African men, plus mercenaries from other countries without gainful employment for their able bodied men, is such a cause for celebration.

The world needs more armies?

Why are these people called "peacekeepers"? There is no peace to be kept

It is reported:

The Security Council resolution grants the peacekeeping mission authority to use military force to protect its personnel, guarantee the safe travel of humanitarian aid workers and provide protection for civilians.

Increasingly it seems all world problems are approached solely through military solutions, now also in the United Nations, as it devotes at least 2 billion dollars a year to create yet another army.