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  5 years of genocide

  Thanks for your comment, bethechange.

  Unfortunately, I think the current U.S. administration is taking the wrong steps re its Sudan policy. Outside of your question about whether or not the U.S. is beginning to adopt an 'all-Sudan perspective,' there are some larger and troubling developments that Darfur advocates should keep in mind...

  The New York Times reported yesterday (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/world/africa/17diplo.html) that the U.S. is considering normalizing relations with the Sudanese government. Let me paste the key part of this article:
  
  "The Bush administration could remove Sudan from an American list of state supporters of terrorism and normalize relations if the Sudanese government agreed, among other steps, to allow Thai and Nepalese peacekeepers in its Darfur region, says a document outlining the American negotiating position for talks with Sudan that began Wednesday.

  The document was part of a series of negotiating papers exchanged between the governments in preparation for talks in Rome. They were provided to The New York Times by an American government official critical of the administration’s position.

  Sudan has already promised to let United Nations peacekeepers operate within its borders, and human rights advocates and others say it would be a mistake for the United States to offer any new incentives until Sudan carries out that and other pledges.

  “Given the fact that Khartoum has been involved in negotiations repeatedly over the years regarding Darfur and the comprehensive peace agreements and has signed documents and consistently failed to implement what they’ve signed, why are we discussing normalization with them?” said Roger Winter, a former Sudan negotiator at the State Department. Richard Williamson, the United States envoy to Sudan, is in Rome for the talks with Sudanese officials. The broad thrust of the American position has been known, but the negotiating papers provide new details about the positions staked out by each side as they try to resolve differences over Darfur."

  The U.S. shouldn't be normalizing ties with the GoS when it well knows that it's only concerted pressure -- in the form of targeted multilateral sanctions and a credible military threat -- that will get Khartoum to stop its genocide. -N

  Posted 18 Apr 08

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  Hi There! Welcome to our forum.

  We've created this forum to open up the lines of communication ... discuss your own Darfur initiatives, ask Darfur policy questions, introduce yourselves to other activists, etc. Hopefully we can begin having some enlightening conversations soon! Feel free to add a new topic! Thanks for stopping by. -Nikki Serapio, Director of Americans Against the Darfur Genocide

  Posted 10 Dec 07

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  Not On My Watch

  Mick, thanks for starting up this topic, and John, thanks for your initial response.

  Americans Against the Darfur Genocide believes there are concrete steps that the U.S. can take to help the people of Darfur that don't by themselves constitute any kind of U.S. unilateral intervention. I'm appending one such policy step -- the imposition of targeted Security Council sanctions against Khartoum's senior leaders -- in order to make my point a little clearer.

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  Reminder: Urge President Bush to lead the Security Council in imposing new targeted sanctions 

  [Update: Here’s an action alert we first posted last week. We’re posting it again because it’s important that we get the White House to walk its talk: last week, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad stated that the U.S. was considering pushing for new Security Council sanctions against the Government of Sudan, in response to its continued obstruction of a desperately needed UN peacekeeping deployment to Darfur. This is all well and good, but we need action and not just talk from our leaders. So please, take the action below and ask your friends and family members to do the same. Thank you! -The AADG/OurPledge.org Team]

  [A reminder from the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition and the Genocide Intervention Network:]

  Call 1-800-GENOCIDE (1-800-436-6243)
  Tell President Bush: Lead the UN Security Council in Imposing Targeted Sanctions

  What to say:
  Urge President Bush to lead the UN Security Council in imposing targeted sanctions against senior Sudanese officials responsible for obstructing the deployment of peacekeeping forces to Darfur.
  
  Why it is important:
  American leadership was critical in authorizing a new peacekeeping mission for Darfur.  Now, however, the Khartoum regime is obstructing the deployment of that force.  In order for civilians to be effectively protected, the UNAMID force must be deployed as soon as possible.
  
  Additional information:
  Now that a new UN Security Council Resolution (1769) has been passed the international community must do everything in its power to ensure that troops are deployed. Recently, a senior UN official reported that obstructionism on the part of the government of Sudan is making UNAMID deployment almost impossible.  For three years the government of Sudan has blocked the deployment of troops because there was not international pressure to force its hand. In order for the international community to ensure that the peacekeeping mandate of UN Security Council Resolution 1769 is carried out quickly and effectively, multilateral pressure must be applied now.

  Posted 18 Dec 07

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  Suggested Reading

  Book -- I would suggest reading Eric Reeves' "A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide." Here's what Samantha Power has to say about this book: "What you have in these pages are the brilliant, fierce, rigorous writings of a one-man-lobbying machine who is singlehandedly responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives."

  Re: a link -- I would suggest reading the ENOUGH Project's Dec. 3, 2007 report "Don't Quit Now," which clearly describes what the Darfur movement has achieved during the past few years. The upshot is that we have a long, long way to go, but we shouldn't forget about our achievements. http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/dontquit
  
  

  Posted 18 Dec 07