As we might expect, now that hostilities are greatly diminished, with the collapse of the Gbagbo offensive, the UN and its peacekeepers are taking a back seat in Ivory Coast.
This is exactly the wrong thing to do.
Mr. Outtarra needs all the help he can get if he is to prevent an ethic, tribal bloodbath. There are already signs of it, with a hundred bodies found in the west, apparently killed by mercenaries and either burnt alive or buried after being killed. It is not yet clear by whom or why these people were killed, but the problem is real and seems to be growing.
So, the UN should now begin the work only it can do, with the active effort of its peacekeepers, both the French already on the ground and with additional troops sent in to help.
If Ivory Coast is to be spared the genocide of Ruanda or Congo, there needs to be immediate and firm action from the UN. Without it, Ivory Coast will slip into civil chaos and, later, we will count the bodies to our regret and eternal shame.
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