Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner in Darfur?

With apologies to the late, great Warren Zevon, I note an interesting op-ed by Max Boot ("A Mercenary Force for Darfur") in today's W$J.

...privateers... can actually perform valuable work that we won't send our own troops to do. Case in point: Darfur. A force of 7,000 lightly armed African Union peacekeepers has been helpless to stop the genocide being carried out in this region of the Sudan. Odds are that a contingent of U.N. blue helmets, if and when they finally arrive, won't do much better. Why not turn to the private sector?

...the record of privateers compares favorably with that of U.N. peacekeeping forces, which have been distinguished more by their propensity for committing sex crimes [link added] than by any success in keeping the peace. To deal with potential abuses, private fighters could be hired under a contract that would hold them liable for war crimes in the International Criminal Court or some other jurisdiction. That would make them more accountable than U.N. forces, which operate with almost complete impunity.

Sending mercenaries to Africa isn't politically correct. But it would be a lot more useful than sending more aid money that will be wasted or passing ineffectual resolutions that will be ignored.

The idea violates basic principles laid forth by the late and brilliant but nevertheless obscure Jane Jacobs in her book "Systems of Survival" about not mixing so-called 'guardian' functions (e.g., soldiering) with 'commercial' frameworks (e.g., private, freelance work). Bringing greater accountability to the UN itself would be a much better way of approaching things. That said, I share Boot's frustration and applaud him for throwing a paradigm-shattering idea into the mix. Achieving UN accountability may take several lifetimes--if it's not a complete oxymoron. In the meantime, people are dying while the First Avenue suits continue to hob-nob over nothing.