DARFUR UPDATE: This is progress of a sort:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Saturday threatening Sudan with oil sanctions if it did not stop atrocities in the Darfur region where Arab militias are terrorizing African villagers.

The vote was 11-0, with abstentions by China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria on the U.S.-drafted resolution that also calls for an expanded African Union monitoring force and an international probe into abuses, including genocide.

China, which exploits oil in Sudan, earlier threatened to veto the measure but said it did not want to hinder the African Union, which may send in 3,000 monitors and troops to investigate and serve as a bulwark against abuses.

But Beijing’s U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, served notice he would veto any future resolution that would impose sanctions. “That is the message,” he told reporters.

Co-sponsoring the resolution with the United States were Britain, Germany, Spain, and Romania. Also voting in favor were France, Brazil, Chile, Angola, Benin and the Philippines.

Getting China not to veto, and getting France — which has oil interests of its own — to vote in favor certainly counts as a diplomatic success. But I have to say that I think this is too little, too late. Guns and special-forces trainers are probably more to the point now.