State of the Union or State of Inaction?

On Monday night President Bush delivered his seventh and final State of the Union address. While I was fairly confident that I hadn’t misheard, I wanted to do some fact checking about the President’s priorities for Iraq. I scanned through the transcript of the speech and found that Iraq was mentioned 32 times. The same search function revealed that the word refugee did not appear, confirming what I had already known.

This administration has made the war in Iraq its domestic and international priority, yet refuses to acknowledge the widespread humanitarian catastrophe that has accompanied our military engagement. It is disheartening to me as a citizen of this country, that our elected leader, the president of the United States, would fail to take responsibility for a displacement crisis of this magnitude. The Middle East is currently hosting 2.5 million Iraqi refugees and there are over 2 million civilians in Iraq who have had to leave their homes for safer areas within Iraq. “A free Iraq will show millions across the Middle East that a future of liberty is possible. A free Iraq will be a friend of America, a partner in fighting terror, and a source of stability in a dangerous part of the world,” said the President. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a stable Iraq or Middle East without a resolution to this refugee crisis.

President Bush has made changing hearts and minds around the world a focal point of his international agenda – at least in rhetoric. Last night’s speech included one simple line about Darfur: “America opposes genocide in Sudan.” Earlier this month, while welcoming the new United States envoy to Sudan, Rich Williamson, the President made a similar statement about Darfur: “My administration called this a genocide. Once you label it ‘genocide’ you obviously have to do something about it.” In his final year in office, there is more that can be done for Darfur. Enforcing a widely violated arms embargo, tightening the travel restrictions for the regime in Khartoum, and imposing stiffer economic and financial sanctions on the regime.

President Bush has one more year an office. His response to these two issues will tell the world that he is willing to back his rhetoric with real action. Not acting will speak louder still.

--Jake Kurtzer