Nicholas Kristof has a lengthy report on Darfur in the current issue of The New York Review of Books — “Genocide in Slow Motion.” He sees “Never Again” turning into “One More Time:”
[O]utrage at genocide is tragically difficult to sustain. There are only a few groups that are trying to do so: university students who have led the anti-genocide campaign and formed groups like the Genocide Intervention Network; Jewish humanitarian organizations, for whom the word "genocide" has intense meaning; the Smith College professor Eric Reeves, who has helped lead the campaign to protest the genocide; some US churches; and aid workers who daily brave the dangers of Darfur (like the one who chronicles her experiences in the blog "Sleepless in Sudan"
). Some organizations, like Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group, have also produced a series of excellent reports on Darfur — underscoring that this time the nations of the world know exactly what they are turning away from and cannot claim ignorance.
In the question and answer session that followed his speech at Kansas State University on Monday, President Bush was asked whether the U.S. has “a larger role to play in the Sudan, and the entire sub-Saharan African region?”
We have got an important role to play and have played it. I don’t know if you remember the Danforth commission, where Jack Danforth, the former senator from Missouri, was my envoy to the Sudan to help resolve the north-south conflict. And there was a peace agreement in place. And the peace agreement was set back, unfortunately, because — well, it’s still intact, don’t get me wrong, but the implementation was delayed somewhat because of John Garang’s untimely death. He was the leader of the south of Sudan. So the important thing there is that we showed through diplomacy that it’s possible to resolve differences, and to begin to reduce the abhorrent issue of slavery. . . .
[A]nd by the way, one of the great strengths of this country is our faith-based programs that rose up in indignation about the slavery that was taking place in the Sudan. Much of the first wave of help that went into the Sudan, some of it was government, most of it was the response of the private sector, particularly the religious communities.
The issue now is Darfur. And when Colin was still the Secretary of State, he declared the policy of the U.S. and our deep concern that we are headed toward genocide. I think we’re the only nation that has uttered those words thus far in Darfur. The strategy — and it’s a very complex situation. It would take yet another lecture to give you all the kind of ins and outs. But suffice it to say that we are deeply concerned about poor folks who have been run out of their villages into refugee camps, who are still being threatened by a jinjaweed militia and some rebellious groups that are trying to extract political gain through marauding and death and rape and destruction.
We’ve empowered the AU . . . to provide forces on the ground, to provide stability. . . . That issue has yet to be resolved as to whether or not Sudan will be the [head of the] AU. This is an important issue. We will continue to work with Congress to provide aid, food aid and help. We helped fly the AU troops into Sudan. We’re watching it very carefully. We are considering different strategies as to how to make sure that there’s enough protection at least to get people help and protection, and, at the same time, see if we can’t try to broker the same kind of agreement we did north-south, with the Darfur and the government.
Kristof’s report indicates that UN action in Darfur is currently being hampered (for reasons relating to oil) by Russia and China — the same two countries currently blocking (for the same reasons) prompt UN action against Iran. There are a lot of geopolitical dots to be connected in the Darfur picture, including an expanding Chinese-Arab alliance.
But as Kristof’s report (and Bush’s comments) also indicates, the United States has acted in the Sudan in the past in significant part because of pressure from religious groups within the U.S. — who saw moral issues at stake. That too is a force.
The number of displaced persons has now reached 2 million, and the UN says that 3 million (half the total population of Darfur) are dependent on international relief for food and other basics. Jewish World Watch continues its efforts with respect to Darfur. Action steps are here.