Tweet
DARFUR AT THE CROSSROADS
The Register-Guard, Oregon
Sept 25 2006
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, on the global agenda more urgent
than rescuing the people of Darfur from genocide.
Yet world leaders continue to respond with half measures that seem
almost crafted to ensure that Darfuris will not escape the fate that
has befallen the Armenians, Jews, Cambodians and Rwandans in past
de- cades.
A United Nations panel reported last week that Sudan's government is
defying U.N. sanctions and is escalating its attacks on the remaining
villages in the sprawling western region of Darfur. Despite an
arms embargo, the Khartoum regime is continuing to provide weapons,
vehicles and other military assistance to the Arab tribal militias
known as the Janjaweed.
Darfur stands at a crossroads, and so far there is no indication the
international community will intervene to halt what President Bush
rightly called genocide in a speech last week to world leaders at
the United Nations.
As many as 400,000 African Muslims have died in Darfur from violence
or disease since 2003, and another 2 million are homeless. Millions
more may die soon unless world leaders take decisive, forceful action
to stop the slaughter.
Several developments last week, including Bush's appointment of a
special envoy to Sudan, indicate the world hasn't entirely forgotten
Darfur. But more drastic steps are needed, and without them the promise
that the world will "never again" allow genocide to go unchecked,
a promise imbedded in the United Nations Charter, will once again
go unfulfilled.
Bush has named Andrew Natsios, the former administrator of the
U.S. Agency for International Development, as special envoy to Sudan.
While a higher-profile appointment, such as Colin Powell or James
Baker III, would have helped highlight the importance of the crisis
in Darfur, Natsios has the requisite experience and, hopefully,
the necessary support from the White House to break through the
stalemate that has frustrated efforts to get a U.N. peacekeeping
force into Darfur.
The Security Council has authorized sending 20,000 peacekeepers to
replace an undersized and poorly equipped African Union force. That
group has struggled ineffectively to protect refugees and the dwindling
number of international aid workers that remain in Darfur.
However, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has refused to allow the
peacekeepers to enter Darfur and has even pledged to attack them if
they try. Meanwhile, al-Bashir has ordered African Union troops to
leave by Sept. 30, even though the union has agreed to extend its
mandate through the end of the year.
The clock is ticking. The United States and its allies must do
everything possible to persuade the Sudanese government to allow U.N.
peacekeepers to enter Darfur. If African Union troops remain in the
region, then al-Bashir must allow NATO to provide the additional
support it has promised.
Meanwhile, the Security Council should enact tougher sanctions,
including a travel ban on al-Bashir and other government leaders
and a no-fly zone to prevent government aircraft from assisting
the Janjaweed. U.S. diplomats must lean on China and Russia, which
have resisted international intervention in Darfur, to use their
considerable clout with Khartoum to persuade al-Bashir to admit the
peacekeepers.
Sudan's Arab neighbors, including Libya and Egypt, must also break
their shameful silence about the genocidal slaughter of Muslims and
add their support for U.N. deployment.
It will take all these measures and more to stop the gears of genocide
from grinding on in Darfur.
The Register-Guard, Oregon
Sept 25 2006
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, on the global agenda more urgent
than rescuing the people of Darfur from genocide.
Yet world leaders continue to respond with half measures that seem
almost crafted to ensure that Darfuris will not escape the fate that
has befallen the Armenians, Jews, Cambodians and Rwandans in past
de- cades.
A United Nations panel reported last week that Sudan's government is
defying U.N. sanctions and is escalating its attacks on the remaining
villages in the sprawling western region of Darfur. Despite an
arms embargo, the Khartoum regime is continuing to provide weapons,
vehicles and other military assistance to the Arab tribal militias
known as the Janjaweed.
Darfur stands at a crossroads, and so far there is no indication the
international community will intervene to halt what President Bush
rightly called genocide in a speech last week to world leaders at
the United Nations.
As many as 400,000 African Muslims have died in Darfur from violence
or disease since 2003, and another 2 million are homeless. Millions
more may die soon unless world leaders take decisive, forceful action
to stop the slaughter.
Several developments last week, including Bush's appointment of a
special envoy to Sudan, indicate the world hasn't entirely forgotten
Darfur. But more drastic steps are needed, and without them the promise
that the world will "never again" allow genocide to go unchecked,
a promise imbedded in the United Nations Charter, will once again
go unfulfilled.
Bush has named Andrew Natsios, the former administrator of the
U.S. Agency for International Development, as special envoy to Sudan.
While a higher-profile appointment, such as Colin Powell or James
Baker III, would have helped highlight the importance of the crisis
in Darfur, Natsios has the requisite experience and, hopefully,
the necessary support from the White House to break through the
stalemate that has frustrated efforts to get a U.N. peacekeeping
force into Darfur.
The Security Council has authorized sending 20,000 peacekeepers to
replace an undersized and poorly equipped African Union force. That
group has struggled ineffectively to protect refugees and the dwindling
number of international aid workers that remain in Darfur.
However, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has refused to allow the
peacekeepers to enter Darfur and has even pledged to attack them if
they try. Meanwhile, al-Bashir has ordered African Union troops to
leave by Sept. 30, even though the union has agreed to extend its
mandate through the end of the year.
The clock is ticking. The United States and its allies must do
everything possible to persuade the Sudanese government to allow U.N.
peacekeepers to enter Darfur. If African Union troops remain in the
region, then al-Bashir must allow NATO to provide the additional
support it has promised.
Meanwhile, the Security Council should enact tougher sanctions,
including a travel ban on al-Bashir and other government leaders
and a no-fly zone to prevent government aircraft from assisting
the Janjaweed. U.S. diplomats must lean on China and Russia, which
have resisted international intervention in Darfur, to use their
considerable clout with Khartoum to persuade al-Bashir to admit the
peacekeepers.
Sudan's Arab neighbors, including Libya and Egypt, must also break
their shameful silence about the genocidal slaughter of Muslims and
add their support for U.N. deployment.
It will take all these measures and more to stop the gears of genocide
from grinding on in Darfur.