 ragtag army. To take it on, and then to hold the region, would require a force of less than divisional strength - that is to say some 10,000 men in three brigades with logistics back-up. The force would need to have armour and air power to deal with Sudan's army and air force before turning to peace enforcement to ensure that, once driven off, the army and militias did not return.
For such an operation there would need to be a logistics base in a neighbouring country from which to launch the operation. The choices are Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Chad, where 200,000 Darfurian refugees live, would be the best as it is closest to the Darfur Mountains and would give the most sustainable base. (This, of course, pre-supposes the permission of the host nation.)
A rough estimate suggests it would cost in the order of $120m to $200m to mount the logistics effort and send soldiers to Darfur. And this assumes that a force could be assembled - no mean feat in itself, but
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| A Darfur force might cost $1.3bn - but Live Aid raised more than $300m in a single concert to buy food for starving Ethiopia |
|
|
distinctly possible. Just suppose one goes for an armoured brigade, a mechanised brigade and an infantry brigade to do the job with artillery support.
That adds up to a minimum of 120 tanks and 120 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) with 100 guns of various calibres and associated vehicles. Along with command and logistics vehicles, one would need a further 300 lorries and 100 jeeps.
Many of these can be bought on the open market. With ex-Soviet T90 tanks and BTR80 APCs - far outclassing anything the Sudanese could field - costing $800,000 and $400,000 a pop, the armour would total $150m with spares. Add a further $150m for the guns, logistics, vehicles and command and you have a vehicle bill of $300m.
Then comes the expensive bit - the people. Bearing in mind the sort of wages private military contractors demand, the force, consisting of private contractors from highly specialised commanders and planners down to willing guns-for-hire from Third World countries, the manpower could be 
|
