The Sudanese "slow roll" while the African Union prepares to send 2,000 troops

According to the U.N., "Sudan is indicating it wants to comply with the Security Council's demand that it show progress in meeting its dual pledges to disarm the armed militias that have conducted deadly attacks in the troubled Darfur region and to restore security for the estimated 1.2 million internally displaced persons." I'm reminded of the first time I learned the term "slow roll." Rather than refuse to comply with a decision he opposed, my boss asked everyone in the office at least to make sure we could "show progress." The Sudanese government is showing progress by deploying thousands more police to Darfur, ostensibly to protect the refugee camps. However, in the past, Sudan has recruited additional police forces from the ranks of the Janjaweed -- the very people terrorizing the refugees. Also, this report suggests that at least some Sudanese police forces are actually expelling refugees from camps and forcing them to return to their villages, where the Janjaweed await.

Perhaps sensing that Sudan is trying to slow roll the U.N., the African Union is preparing to send 2,000 troops to Darfur, and Britain is adding two more planes to the airlift effort.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese government apparently orchestrated a mass protest in Khartoum against the U.N. Or perhaps their chants of, "Annan, Annan, shame, shame," were merely the sounds of progress.