Thursday, September 24th, 2009 - View Comments
A good summary of President Obama’s speech over at Enough. John Norris writes: “Most of [the speech] remained at the 30,000 foot level without getting into specifics.”
That’s exactly right. Regarding Sudan, we weren’t expecting the President to lay out the nitty-gritty of his Administration’s Sudan policy. We accept that a UN General Assembly stage demands a kind of higher-level presentation. Nonetheless, you can take a look at President Obama’s words on Sudan and judge for yourself:
“That is why we will strengthen our support for effective peacekeeping, while energizing our efforts to prevent conflicts before they take hold. We will pursue a lasting peace in Sudan through support for the people of Darfur, and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, so that we secure the peace that the Sudanese people deserve.”
With so many heads of state and other world leaders in the UN gallery, we were hoping that the President would express forthrightly what we all know: the Sudanese government continues to commit genocide against its own people. Such language would not have been cowboy talk. Rather, it would have sent Omar al-Bashir and his inner circle an appropriate warning of “stop-or-else”: stop disabling the humanitarian system in Darfur, stop your continued violence against civilians; and stop reneging on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement — or else you will face severe consequences, including targeted multilateral sanctions.
Of course, President Obama has a team to speak for him. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and Sudan Special Envoy Scott Gration can all speak about Sudan’s tragedies and what the U.S. must do to end these tragedies. However, when the issue is ongoing genocide, the bullhorn should reside with the person who can change everything. The people of Sudan deserve as much. The people of Sudan need the President to lead now.
Friday, September 18th, 2009 - View Comments
If this isn’t grounds for targeted sanctions, we don’t know what is:
Reuters is reporting that the Sudanese government has launched a new campaign of aerial and ground attacks in North Darfur, backed by its proxy militias.
The UN has received verification of the attacks from non-rebel sources. Read more here.
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 - View Comments
“[T]here are probably grains of truth to any thoughtful critique of the Darfur movement. It is far from perfect, and an accurate accounting of its strengths and weaknesses is long overdue. But such calls to declare defunct efforts to save the war-torn Sudanese region miss the point. Millions of activists around the world remain committed to the cause of peace in Sudan. It’s just that no one is telling them that now is the moment they are needed most.” -Randy Newcomb, President and CEO of Humanity United, from his July 2009 Foreign Policy article “Save Darfur Must Save Itself.”
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 - View Comments
The UN confirmed as much during a press conference yesterday:
“Concerning major demonstrations planned during the General Assembly session to protest inadequate United Nations support for civilians in Darfur, Mr. Le Roy [UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations] said the protests were a reminder that the Darfur crisis was not over. Despite improvements since 2003, including a round-the-clock United Nations presence in the internally displaced persons camps, the situation was still unstable, characterized by violence and 2.5 million people living in camps, and it could deteriorate rapidly. United Nations authorities continued to push for an inclusive peace agreement in Darfur.”
“Ms. Malcorra [Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Field Support] said 75 percent of the military component and 63 per cent of the police component of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) had been deployed. Since last year, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support had removed logistical and supply roadblocks and it was now poised to send the remaining requisite troops. It aimed to have 92 per cent deployment of UNAMID by year’s end, taking into account the current supply constraints of some troop-contributing and police-contributing countries. Still, at 92 per cent capacity, key enablers such as helicopters and transport companies would still be missing.”
“In terms of the number of United Nations helicopters in Darfur, she said the Organization had civilian helicopters on the ground, but no military ones. It planned to soon deploy five helicopters from Ethiopia, but it had not received any more pledges for such equipment for Darfur nor for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad.”
Read the full press conference summary here:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-7VX399?OpenDocument
