Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Worthless: More than 400,000 dead and millions driven from their homes, but the United Nations still won't call what's happening in Sudan "genocide". What does it take to raise the ire of the United Nations? (besides being the United States or Israel, of course)

This is sadly just a continuation of the United Nations' failure to show any backbone to do what's right. That organization at one time couldn't even muster the courage to levy sanctions against Sudan, choosing instead to only "threaten" sanctions.

Even with the movie Hotel Rwanda weighing on everyone's conscious, the public reaction to what's going on in Sudan is to think how horrible it is and then go back to eating our dinners. We know where this is going. If the world hates it when the United States acts "unilaterally", then this is the perfect opportunity to step up to the plate and do something to stop this horrifying violence.

And the United States can't pass on this either. While we can't be the world's police, we shouldn't ignore what's happening. And it is in our national interest to act. Sudan is a terrorist hotspot. Al Qaeda breeds there. Osama Bin Laden took refuge there for years. It is a center of arms trafficking. It's true, we certainly have our hands full with Iraq and Afghanistan, and we may have future problems with Iran, Syria, and North Korea. But, as the president has continually reminded us, we're at war. If our military can't handle what's going on now, then it needs to be expanded. We need to find other ways to help Americans engage with foreign problems that affect our security.

Bush and Congress has taken the step to call what's going on in Sudan genocide. Now the president needs to take a leadership role in persuading the rest of the world to recognize what's going on and to do something about it.

Update: Thanks to Eugene Oregon for correcting an error on the number killed so far. I've fixed the post.