End Genocide in Darfur

[Ian David]

From: John Edwards <[e-mail]>
Subject: End Genocide in Darfur


Many times I have asked for your help, and you've come through every time. Never before have I asked for your help on a matter of life and death. Before one more child is tortured, before one more woman is raped, we must urge President Bush to lead the effort to create a NATO force to stop the genocide in Darfur.

Sudan began a genocide against tribes of small farmers in its Darfur region three years ago. Militia groups backed by the Sudanese government have slaughtered an estimated 400,000 people and driven 2.5 million people from their homes. U.N. troops are on their way, but will take at least five more months to arrive in Darfur. NATO forces -- if the U.S. stepped up to moral leadership -- could end the conflict immediately.

Tell George Bush to lead the effort to create a NATO force for Darfur NOW.
http://oneamericacommittee.com/action/sign-petitions/email/darfur_act

America was once trusted and respected around the world. People around the globe expected us to provide moral leadership and inspiration to make their lives better. It's no secret that our reputation has been tarnished over the past six years. The Bush Administration put our country's military strength and vast resources behind a reckless war in Iraq and turned a blind eye to people around the world that desperately needed our help. The U.S. military's unique assets -- our airlift capabilities, logistical support and intelligence operations -- can and must be used to assist NATO peacekeeping in Darfur.

The Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of over 100 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations, has already sent one million postcards to President Bush asking for the immediate deployment of a robust peacekeeping mission. Clearly, many, many more voices are needed to get his attention -- we cannot allow the Bush Administration to stand by for five more months while thousands of civilians are dying in Darfur every month.

In May, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel called Darfur "the capital of suffering." He called on all of us to "tell the victims they are not alone." And just last week a senior United Nations official alerted the Security Council that Sudan seems to be preparing a significant military operation in the Darfur region that will leave aid workers increasingly in danger and hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.

Please speak up for them and urge President Bush to take quick and decisive action.

Tell George Bush to lead the effort to create a NATO force for Darfur NOW.
http://oneamericacommittee.com/action/sign-petitions/email/darfur_act


The people of Darfur cannot wait five more months for U.N. troops to arrive. At the current rate of violence and destruction, another 30,000 civilians will die and another 300,000 people will become refugees over the next five months. In addition, as the international community stands by, violence and chaos is spreading to neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic. More than 100 Chadians were hacked to death in a single incident earlier this year.

I admire the African Union troops stationed in Darfur. They have done their jobs courageously and deserve the world's gratitude. But they need help. The African Union peacekeeping troops, which number just 7,000, have been unable to protect civilians or enforce a 2004 ceasefire. In the meantime, security has deteriorated dramatically.

At a time when the world is questioning U.S. sincerity and motives, what better way for the Bush Administration to show that we still believe in human rights and still have the moral authority to lead, than to step up and do our part to stop the genocide in Darfur? Tens of thousands of lives hang in the balance. So does our nation's moral credibility.

The time to act is now.

http://oneamericacommittee.com/action/sign-petitions/email/darfur_act

Thank you,

John Edwards

P.S. We need to raise every voice possible against the genocide in Darfur. Please forward this message to friends and family and urge them to contact President Bush immediately.
http://oneamericacommittee.com/action/sign-petitions/email/darfur_act


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[applegrove]

1. You have to wonder what the "payoff" , as Dr. Phil would say, is for *

to ignore the Darfur genocide? Really - 10,000 US troops with matching from other places..would put a lid on it.

Do they need this genocide... one supported by Islamic Facists..to go on and on and on?

The * White House are very good and doing thing quickly or slowly.. depending on what they want.

So why the wait?

[Ian David]

2. I don't trust Bush to not fuck-up Darfur even worse than it is

I'm hoping that if we start pushing now, Unitary Executive Nancy Pelosi will work on this in 2007.

[Igel]

3. UN troops are not on their way.

The AU troops are out of funds, and want either more money or, preferably, relief. As it is, they go where Sudan tells them to go, and do what Sudan tells them to do. Only in the West; there's a nascent uprising in the East that's apparently being quelled; perhaps it's been quelled.

Sudan has said it rejects UN troops, and the UN has said without an ok from the Islamists in Khartoum it'll respect Sudanese sovereignty and not deploy UN peacekeepers. The UN is stymied; the US Congress can do nothing. Recently the leader from one rebel faction became part of the government--how much power he'll wield is a mystery--and his folks starting fighting with other rebel groups.

At the same time, Chad and China are cozying up, for good reason--Chad has oil and the IMF has been picky about humanitarian concerns; moreover, the claim is that the E. Chadian rebels are aided by China. Cozying up should resolve that problem; of course, how the help got to E. Chad is a mystery ... perhaps through Sudan? In any event, most of the arms for the Fur in Sudan came through Chad, so there was reciprocity. That source is also now closed down. China's long since cozied up with Sudan: China's oil needs are higher priority than dealing with genocide. But soon after the Chad/China rapprochement was announced, Sudan announced that it would send in (finally?) its troops to rout the rebels.

Presumably 'the rebels' do not include the Janjaweed.

As I said a week or two ago, expect a relatively rapid conclusion to the Darfur crisis. "Rapid" meaning 'months, not years'. I expect AU troops to be out entirely by Nov. 1, and the entire issue to vanish nearly entirely from the media.

[Ian David]

4. What if Jon-Benet's real killers are in Darfur? n/t

[Igel]

5. No doubt if they're discovered their

posters will be plastered on walls in Khartoum.

But, seriously ... I have low expectations for anything good short-term for the Fur.