Current Events Watch

President George W. Bush is keeping a promise to follow through on recommendations for ending the genocide in Darfur, suggesting more aggressive actions are needed.

This is probably an issue that most Americans can agree on. From the far left to the far right, there’s very little wiggle room in the debate. The world knows Sudan’s president Omer al-Bashir has not “met his obligations� to stop the killing, as Bush declared during a Tuesday address in Washington, D. C. Estimates place the number of dead at more than 400,000.

Before Bush even spoke, Voice of America reported that Sudanese officials were calling the sanctions “unjustified.�

Bush says the U.S. Treasury Dept. will add 30 companies owned or controlled by the government of Sudan to a list of Specially Designated Nationals. Another company that has transported weapons to the Sudanese government and militia forces is also being added to the list. This action means none of these companies can participate in the U.S. financial system. Now it’s a crime for American companies or individuals to knowingly interact financially with these companies.

Bush also wants a new United Nations Security Council resolution, in part to expand the embargo on arms sales to the Sudanese government. Bush says the U.S. will “continue to work for the deployment of a larger hybrid force of AU and U.N. peacekeeping troops.�

Save Darfur, an organization devoted to raising public awareness about the genocide, says, “The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias are responsible for the burning and destruction of hundreds of rural villages, the killing of tens of thousands of people and rape and assault of thousands of women and girls.�

On May 26, China View reported that President Al-Bashir addressed the opening session of the 50th meeting of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union (APU) in Khartoum. Sudan’s president said the Darfur crisis was “heading for solution.� We’ve heard that song before.

The United States has provided more than $1.7 billion in humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance—we are Darfur’s single largest donor in the world.

Hopefully, other global leaders will join Bush in making sure more aggressive steps are taken to stop the killing. So far, all we’ve seen are temporary bandages. Major surgery is needed. The United Nations needs to do the job they’re paid to do.–Kay B. Day

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Darfur, sanctions, genocide, Sudan, Bush, al-Bashir

Photo of U.S. President George W. Bush courtesy of White House Weekly Review.