Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct

I can't help letting this though creep into the back of my mind again like it did when the Darfur situation made prime time news. It's probably not going to be a popular opinion, but then again, many of mine aren't.

What if instead of demanding that our government intervene, we cut out the middleman? Take donations internationally, pool the money, and commission a private security firm (like the ones we use as mercenaries in Iraq) to overthrow the oppressive government. State the goal as having the oppressive government out of power by a certain time, at which there will be democratic elections guaranteed and guarded by those security forces and monitored by the UN or whatever international organization is capable of overseeing elections and detecting or preventing fraud. When the election is done and a new government is ready to take power, the UN can send in peacekeepers to ensure that the government that the people want remains stable. Mandate that the peacekeeper presence will be reduced to a minimum after the next election and that the military of the country will take over at that time.