Back at The Seminal, Alex Thurston, citing UN peacekeeping missions' struggles in places like Darfur, Ethiopia-Eritrea, and Somalia, last week opined that "criticizing the UN sometimes feels like the equivalent of beating up a cripple." Well, he's right in that many commentators -- including himself, on occasion -- do often take up the chance to criticize the UN, using it as a convenient scapegoat for Member States' own individual failures. When a complex problem arises, and the international community's response is decried as insufficient, the simple answer is to toss the UN under the bus and look the other way.

Not only is this tactic a deplorably crass -- and self-defeating -- oversimplification, but it also frequently distorts the facts under which the UN is operating. Take the example of the recently shut down mission in Ethiopia-Eritrea. If the UN is "crippled" in its position straddling this contentious border region, it is only because the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea decided to cripple it, flouting international agreements and depriving it of fuel. In Darfur, too, the host government has persistently made UNAMID's effective operation a practical impossibility. Are peacekeepers to be expected to take on host governments with force? In both of these instances, fault lies with the offending obstructionists -- as well as with the individual member states that allow such manipulation to occur unchecked.

Alex does have a legitimate gripe, though:

From an outsider perspective, it feels like UN missions in the post-Cold War period, especially in Africa, have suffered from a lack of precisely defined goals. They enter into missions without a clear framework, stumble, and then are forced to make an embarrassing exit. That's what happened in Somalia in 1993-5, and that's what's happening in the Horn now. At the very least, they have a problem interfacing with the public and communicating to us exactly what they achieve - or try to achieve - in these situations.

[snip]

Is it a question of overreach, and should they set more modest goals? It's hard to see what the point is of deploying 9,000 troops to stop a genocide, or 1,700 troops to prevent a war, when those numbers are clearly inadequate. I honor the men and women who serve in such difficult circumstances, but in the broader picture it seems their presence is largely symbolic.

Setting up missions with a mandate they cannot possibly carry out, with troop levels they cannot possibly reach, and in conditions in which they will only face hostility and violence -- or, in the words of the former AU mediator in Darfur, pursuing "peacekeeping on the cheap" -- is a serious problem that the Security Council will have to get over. Peacekeepers need a peace to keep, and it is not their job to create this peace. A distinction must be drawn between their function and that of the Security Council -- or, more specifically, the countries that comprise it, and even more pointedly, those that have significant influence in bringing peace to certain regions.

Mark is traveling with President Clinton, who is visiting his Clinton Foundation Projects on the continent.

Monrovia, Liberia: The United Nations is everywhere. As we touched down at the Roberts International Airport here a half dozen UN helicopters rested on the tarmac next to two small UN Humanitarian Air Service Planes. We were picked up in UN-marked shuttle buses, and hundreds of peacekeepers and UN police from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) lined the road from the airport to the city.

En route we passed the headquarters of the Ghanaian, Indian, and Nigerian battalions. We also saw a number of signs designating UNMIL "Quick Impact Projects." As the name would suggest, these are UNMIL-sponsored construction jobs meant to garner good will and show some positive results for the peacekeeping mission, which numbers around 15,000.

The majority of UNMIL's uniformed personnel are police. At a small market in town, I had the chance to meet the operational commander of the famous Indian Female Formed Police Unit. (Pictured here meeting President Clinton.) We've reported on this experimental unit on Dispatch before, and seeing them operate in person, I can say that they stand shoulder-to-shoulder -- and AK-47 to AK-47 -- with their male counterparts.

Liberia certainly has a long way to go. The civil war that raged here in the 1990s and early 2000s killed hundreds of thousands and completely destroyed the country's physical infrastructure. The road that connects the airport to the capital is lined with light poles devoid of lights; electricity, if available, is almost exclusively provided by generator.

Liberia is also in desperate need of intellectual firepower, particularly for middle managers of public sector jobs. The health sector was particularly hard hit. An American expat nurse affiliated with the Clinton Foundation served as one of our guides and told us that only about 45 doctors remain in the country (this counts foreign doctors).

Still, visiting Liberia today, you could not help but get a sense of optimism. The country's leadership is strong. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf -- Africa's only female head of state -- is popular in her country, and very popular across Africa. The security situation is also stabilizing thanks to UNMIL. Incidentally, I asked our guide her impressions of the public's attitude toward UNMIL. In responding she referenced a recent radio call-in show in which the host asked people to say what would happen if UNMIL left. Apparently, people were apoplectic at even the prospect of UNMIL's departure.

We are off to Senegal now. Here's another picture of a Liberian peacekeeper, standing guard outside President Sirleaf's office.

>>China - In what the state news agency has called a "terrorist attack," 16 policemen in Xinjiang were killed and 16 were injured when a truck rammed a group of police jogging and then attacked with explosives and knives. Xinjiang is home to a Muslim Uighur population that feels oppressed by Chinese rule.

>>Bangladesh - Bangladeshis voted in the first stage of local elections today, the first poll held since the military took power through an interim government in 2007. All candidates were "independents" as political parties have been banned. A series of local elections will be held, concluding in October. No voting irregularities have yet been reported.

>>AIDS - The Global Aids Conference opened in Mexico today, 25 years after the disease first became prevalent. Ahead of the meeting, new figures show that the number of affected people worldwide has decreased, although some nations are still seeing an increase in infections and many cannot get access to the correct treatment. Over 20,000 officials, scientists, and others, including President Clinton and Mark Goldberg, will be in Mexico for the meeting.

• With President Clinton in Africa: The Promise of "Health Extension Workers"
• Day 3 @ Bellagio: mHealth = Global Health

• China - Savoring the Olympic Spotlight
• China - Pope's hopes for Olympics
• Israel - Israel sends Gazans who fled Hamas to West Bank
• Israel - Ill Palestinians 'asked to spy'
• India - India orders probe into deadly temple stampede
• India - Murdoch plans expansion in India
• Russia - Russia warns Georgia over breakaway province
• Russia - Russia appoints senior general as new envoy to NATO
• Russia - Alexander Solzhenitsyn dead at 89
• Iraq - Elections Bill in Iraq Stalls On Kirkuk
• Pakistan - Helicopters continue rescue on K2
• Pakistan - Pakistan told to rein in militants
• South Africa - Supporters rally for ANC leader
• South Africa - S Africa utility faces double challenge
• Iran - Tehran says it won't stop nuclear work, talks to EU
• Mexico - Global Aids forum opens in Mexico
• Georgia - Six dead in Georgia standoff
• Sudan - Sudan Runners Focus on Games, Not Darfur
• Turkey - Turkey picks army boss, public tension seen easing
• Afghan - Afghan airport to help switch from drugs to fruit
• Kenya - Kenya manhunt for al-Qaeda wanted
• Belarus - Demanding a say
• Nigeria - French sailors seized in Nigeria
• Zimbabwe - Rivals resume Zimbabwe deal talks
• Somalia - Bomb Blast Kills at Least 15 Women in Somalia
• Australia - Australians to Investigate Qantas Safety
• Korea - North Threatens to Expel South Koreans
• Japan - Japan close to declaring recession
• Brazil - Brazil to dispute US subsidies
• Venezuela - Infighting threatens Venezuela vote
• Thailand - Grand Theft Auto withdrawn in Thailand after copycat killing
• Italy - Troops on the streets of Italy in crime crackdown
• Cuba - A Dissident's Return to Cuba