President’s Corner: Time for the U.S. To Do More in Darfur

The United States has started a new chapter in its effort to stop the death and displacement in the Darfur region of Sudan. I hope that it is more successful than previous attempts.

On Jan 17th President Bush met in the Oval Office with Ambassador Rich Williamson, his new Special Envoy to Sudan. At the meeting Mr. Bush said all the right things: “We talked about our common commitment and the commitment of this government to help the suffering of citizens in Sudan who, you know, suffer deprivation and rape,” the president said. “My administration called this a genocide. Once you label it “genocide” you obviously have to do something about it.”

President Bush and the Congress accused the government of Sudan of committing genocide in Darfur in 2004. Now, nearly four years later, fighting and displacement continue in Darfur and the government responsible for supporting brutal attacks against civilians remains in power. The U.S. has not done enough to stop what it has called a genocide.

At the end of the day, Ambassador Williamson will be judged on whether he can, working with the UN and others, convince rebel and government forces to stop the fighting. In working toward this goal, there are intermediate steps he can take to tighten pressure on the regime in Khartoum and on rebel leaders. For example, the U.S., working with its allies, should:

• Do more to enforce a widely violated arms embargo on both the government and the rebels.
• Tighten travel sanctions against members of the Khartoum regime so they can’t travel around the world as respectable leaders.
• Impose stiffer economic and financial sanctions on the regime.

In his White House comments, Mr. Bush said the U.S. wants to help make the United Nations, which is currently deploying a UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, more effective. “The United States can help what has been a process, frankly, that has unfolded a little too slow for our liking,” he said. “And we can help.”

One reason the UN is having a hard time deploying the new force is that it lacks adequate support from donor countries, including the U.S. It needs equipment, such as helicopters, that military powers have been slow to provide. That’s one area where the U.S. can help. Another reason for the slow UN deployment is a series of obstructions erected by the government of Sudan. The U.S. and its allies have been too willing to let Khartoum get away with delaying the deployment of peacekeepers.

We need tough, new measures to end a difficult, old conflict.

--Ken Bacon

Learn more about our work in Sudan at our Crisis in Darfur page.