DARFUR : US MAY JOIN UN PEACEKEEPING TROOPS

100,000s HAVE DIED IN WAR, 2 MILLION PEOPLE DISPLACED

From the Washington Post : "The Bush administration has settled on the idea of sending up to several hundred NATO advisers to help bolster African Union peacekeeping troops in their efforts to shield villagers in Sudan's Darfur region from fighting between government-backed Arab militias and rebel groups, administration officials said.

"The move would include some U.S. troops and mark a significant expansion of U.S. and allied involvement in the conflict.

"The proposal...falls well short of more aggressive measures that some have advocated, such as sending ground combat troops or providing air patrols to protect peacekeepers and prevent the bombing of villages.

"The latest conflict dates from early 2003, when Darfur rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-led Islamic government in Khartoum, citing discrimination against the region's black tribes. The Sudanese government bombed villages to force the rebels out and unleashed Arab militias that mounted a campaign of burning and pillaging. An estimated 100,000 to 400,000 people may have died from violence or disease, according to U.N. officials and human rights advocates, and more than 2 million people have been displaced to camps."