Darfur Descending: "Darfur Descending
No Time for Apathy on Sudan

By Kofi A. Annan

Wednesday, January 25, 2006; Page A19

When I visited Darfur last May, I felt hopeful. Today I am pessimistic, unless a major new international effort is mustered in the coming weeks.

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As Annan argues at the bottom of this piece, the use of force, if necessary to deter or end threats or acts of violence, should be part of any mandate arrived at by the Security Council. Is he serious or is this a way to cover tracks for Rwanda where Ch7 wasn't granted by his office (if I am not mistaken, he was the head of the office overseeing UN activities in Africa) and put the onus on the council? If I am not mistaken, in Rwanda it would not have taken a Security Council mandate to authorize the blue helmets to use force to stop the genocide.