Reuters is reporting that the United Nations Security Council has authorized 26,000 peacekeepers for Sudan's Darfur region. Member countries will have 30 days to decide how many troops and police they will be contributing to the mission (American ground troops seem unlikely). The unanimous vote came only after the peacekeepers' mandate had been watered down several times, but this is unmistakably progress:

The resolution allows the use of force in self-defense, to ensure freedom of movement for humanitarian workers and to protect civilians under attack.

Language that allowed confiscating illegal weapons would have been nice, but being able to act to protect civilians under attack is what is most important. And while 26,000 blue hats probably isn't enough to stop the widespread killing in Darfur, it's a lot better than 7,000 African Union troops. It's a sign that the international community is finally starting to move on this issue. It's a start. We can be grateful for that.

— Nick Baumann

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When Ted Stevens (R-Corruption) isn't busy getting his home raided by the FBI and the IRS due to a possibly illegal sweetheart deal he got when an Alaskan oil company remodeled his house for him, he's landing earmarks that (possibly illegally) enrich his former aide and his son's current business partner. Now — who'da thunk it? — he's getting investigated for that, too. For more info, see Think Progress.

Also, CREW thinks it's a good idea if the most egregious mishandler of cash in Washington isn't sitting on the committee that doles out all the cash. They're calling for Stevens to lose his seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. (He's also the ranking member on the Commerce Committee.) No one thought of this earlier?

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There's a lot of talk lately about how the Iraq troop "surge" is working and how, at long last, we may finally be close to turning a corner in the struggle to stabilize the country. I call bullshit. (So does George Packer.) Isn't this the sort of self-serving delusion that got us in there in the first place? No? Well, take a look at this report released yesterday by Oxfam International and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI), a consortium of non-governmental organizations. From the report's executive summary:

Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, health care, education, and employment. Of the four million Iraqis who are dependent on food assistance, only 60 per cent currently have access to rations through the government-run Public Distribution System (PDS), down from 96 per cent in 2004.

Forty-three per cent of Iraqis suffer from 'absolute poverty'. According to some estimates, over half the population are now without work. Children are hit the hardest by the decline in living standards. Child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 per cent before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28 per cent now.

The situation is particularly hard for families driven from their homes by violence. The two million internally displaced people (IDPs) have no incomes to rely on and are running out of coping mechanisms. In 2006, 32 per cent of IDPs had no access to PDS food rations, while 51 per cent reported receiving food rations only sometimes.

The number of Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies has risen from 50 per cent to 70 per cent since 2003, while 80 per cent lack effective sanitation. The 'brain drain' that Iraq is experiencing is further stretching already inadequate public services, as thousands of medical staff, teachers, water engineers, and other professionals are forced to leave the country. At the end of 2006, perhaps 40 per cent had left already.

It's highly unlikely that any meaningful corners can be turned in Iraq until the population's basic needs are met. Yes, lack of security is the primary reason for the lag, but aren't we responsible for that, too? For those of you who missed it, NPR's "On Point" aired an interview with filmmaker Charles Ferguson, whose documentary, "No End in Sight: The Occupation of Iraq," won a special jury prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It opened in theaters last Friday. You may think you've heard it all before, but you haven't. Take a listen.

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My oh my, look what I found on the series of tubes.

The FBI and IRS have searched the home of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in a ski resort in Alaska as part of an investigation into his links with an oil-services company, officials said on Monday.

Stevens, probably the biggest porker in Congress, once threatened to resign when the Senate challenged a frivolous Alaskan earmark in order to help rebuild New Orleans after Katrina, so it's not like anyone will miss this guy if he ends up getting taken down. But that won't happen if the hulk tie has anything to do with it.

For background on the Stevens scandal, see TPMtv.

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