US President George W. Bush said overnight that ending violence in Darfur will probably require double the number of peacekeepers there now, led by the United Nations with strong NATO support.

“We need more troops,” Mr Bush stressed, saying that the 7,000-strong African Union (AU) deployment there “was noble, but it didn’t achieve the objective.”

“I’m in the process now of working with a variety of folks to encourage there to be more troops, probably under the United Nations,” he said days after meeting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

“But it’s going to require a NATO stewardship, planning, facilitating, organizing, probably double the number of peacekeepers that are there now, in order to start bringing some sense of security,” said Mr Bush. ~The Herald-Sun

Of course, NATO has no mandate to lead peacekeeping forces in Africa or anywhere else. NATO does not exist for peacekeeping missions. NATO should no longer exist. It no longer has a purpose. The conflict in the Sudan is tragic and dreadful, but is a) not our business and b) not genocide.