STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images

Gen. Martin Luther Agwai of Nigeria is about to lead the world's largest peacekeeping operation into Darfur. In an open letter to Agwai today, Romeo Dallaire, who led the U.N.'s failed peacekeeping force in Rwanda, has this uplifting advice:

You can anticipate being let down by everyone on whom you depend for support, be that troops, funding, logistics or political engagement....

Bear in mind that whoever fails you will, in the end, be the most active in blaming you for whatever goes wrong.