UN peacekeeping is hamstrung by national rules for its troops

THE PEOPLE OF the dusty eastern Congolese town of Mubambiro put little faith in the protection promised by the UN’s blue helmets in their midst. Fabrice Zahiga, a government functionary in the town, talks of a climate of “total insecurity” as rebels and a myriad of armed groups, often backed by outsiders, torment civilians. The South African and Guatemalan troops at the base may be among the UN’s best. But residents complain that they respond to attacks only after the fact, if at all. They avoid night patrols. Espoir Nyangi, who sells phone credit, laments that the peacekeepers do nothing. “They just impregnate our women.”