For sure, the Sudan advocacy movement is immensely grateful to President Obama for speaking out against Omar al-Bashir’s decision to expel thirteen humanitarian aid groups from Sudan. Yesterday, the President stated that “[it is] not acceptable to put that many people’s lives at risk,” referring to the more than one million Darfuri civilians and other Sudanese civilians who depend on regular food and medical aid in order to survive.
As an important follow-up measure, President Obama now needs to lay out in clear detail what his administration is going to do immediately to stop the Darfur genocide and promote a sustainable peace for the whole of Sudan.
Now, one might think that Obama’s team has already entered into a kind of behind-the-scenes, seized-of-the-matter emergency mode on behalf of the people of Sudan. However, based on knowledge from our own inside contacts and an analysis of what’s already part of the public record, there’s no compelling reason to believe that the new administration has shifted into the highest and best gear possible.
After all, the administration’s State Department spokesperson said the following just yesterday:
“Well, this Administration plans to take some action with regard to Darfur. I’m not prepared here to spell out what those actions will be, but I can assure you that Darfur is one of those issues that’s at the top of the President and the Secretary’s agenda. And you’ll see in the coming weeks and months, we will be rolling out a strategy in terms of how we’re going to deal with – overall with the situation in Darfur” [my emphases].
Imagine that you’re a Sudanese government official in Khartoum, and you’re just reading the above policy signal from the United States. The administration is planning on taking action, but they’re not “prepared to spell out” what these actions are just yet. The administration is planning on taking action for the people of Sudan…however, you’ll have to wait for “the coming weeks and months” to see this plan manifested in reality.
Put simply, the people of Darfur and other threatened men, women, and children throughout Sudan don’t have weeks or months to wait. Omar al-Bashir has already made his move: in deciding on the immediate fates of more than one million innocent Sudanese, he has completely shut the door to food, medicine, and potable water. And he has shut the door tight.
President Obama, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, National Security Advisor James Jones, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs Samantha Power, and others within the Obama administration are intellectually and politically formidable folks. They know what to do. An unflinching demand to restore humanitarian aid immediately. Strong unilateral, UN, and EU sanctions against Khartoum’s top leaders as well as the companies that support the Khartoum regime exclusively. The destruction of Sudanese military aircraft in order to stop Khartoum from bombing Darfur. In the short term, coordinated and accelerated planning for a Sudan no-fly zone, in order to send Bashir the signal that the international community is ready to create a security blanket in the air. And immediate offers — through U.S. avenues and through the pipelines of our allies — to fill out UNAMID with the peacekeeping manpower, helicopters, and other resources it desperately needs in order to achieve protective dominance in Darfur.
President Clinton will forever live with the memory of 800,000 Rwandans murdered during his tenure. President George W. Bush will forever live with the memory of 400,000 Darfuris killed on his watch. And now President Obama…what will you do in the face of the worst crime known to human beings? There is no excuse not to act faster. There is a genocide to stop.
