Filling A Vacuum

FOR 11 MONTHS, THE 22,000-STRONG UNITED NAtions Transitional Authority in Cambodia has responded to complaints of cease-fire violations by claiming that it was powerless to stop them. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge have systematically enlarged the area they control. Now the Hun Sen government has taken matters into its own hands, retaking much of the lost territory in a large-scale military operation in the northern and western parts of the country. Hun Sen has offered to withdraw his troops behind a buffer zone that would be policed by U.N. troops. UNTAC officials declined; though the U.N. has the firepower, they'd rather supervise elections than try to stop the fighting.