Kerry op-ed on the Sudan

[karynnj]

As the United States works with Israelis and Palestinians to sustain Mideast peace talks, another diplomatic effort to forge a two-state solution is quietly but quickly moving to the center of American foreign policy.

In about 100 days, the people of South Sudan are to vote on whether to declare independence from the government in Khartoum. That deadline was set when the two sides signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, which promised this option.

There is little suspense as to the outcome: Every reliable source indicates that South Sudan will vote for separation, dividing Africa's largest country and taking with it some 80 percent of known Sudanese oil reserves. No, the critical choice that leaders in both North and South face is between a future of peaceful coexistence or a return to chaos and war in a place tragically familiar with both.
<snip>
One painful lesson from years of Mideast peacemaking is that even when the elements that will constitute an accord may seem clear from the outside, the compromises and choices that will make it possible are difficult to accept, sequence and execute.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/07/kerry.sudan.referendum/?hpt=Sbin

In 2009, JK and Teresa went to Sudan and while there got agreement that the country would allow the aid to Darfur to return to the level it was at before aid workers were kicked out and that the Tri party talks would resume.

(For details on that trip, here are Prosense's threads with many articles: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8351510, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8343602 and http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8325095

Although the visit was a resounding success, when he referred to the agreements when he returned, Kerry was actually asked by NPR if the reason he was the one to announce this was because the administration thought it would fail. (Other than that bizarre question, it was a good interview.) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103295567&ft=1&f=1001&sc=YahooNews

One thing that Kerry did not speak of at all then was that Teresa actually broke a rib in Pakistan, where they went before going to Sudan. (At her health conference in Pittsburgh, she spoke of it) It is incredible that Teresa opted to continue on to Sudan, including Darfur, where her background was likely to help win trust from the Sudanese.

[ProSense]

1. Good piece. Here is a short BG article mentioning th op-ed

Kerry continues to urge US diplomacy in Sudan, compares situation to Mideast

Posted by Stephanie Vallejo

Senator John Kerry continues his efforts to draw attention to Sudan as a vote to determine the future of the country’s southern region approaches in roughly 100 days.

The referendum, to be held in January, allows for southern Sudan to decide whether to declare its independence from the central government, which Kerry deems the likely outcome in an op-ed featured on CNN’s website today that compares the situation in Sudan to that in the Mideast:

“While there are obviously differences, these situations in the Mideast and Sudan have more in common than the painful process of division. Each features disputes over land and resources, religious and ethnic differences, and conflicting narratives of bloodshed and loss. Time is a critical element in every peace process. And with its referendum fast approaching, Sudan, too, faces the tyranny of the onrushing calendar.”

In the past several weeks, Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has called for a stepped up US diplomatic presence to support a peaceful two-state solution in the country, which saw two million killed in decades of civil war. Kerry delivered promised legislation with a bipartisan bill he co-sponsored in late September, the “Sudan Peace and Stability Act of 2010,” which affirms US commitment to the peace process.

Kudos to Senator Kerry for focusing attention on the Sudanese situation.

[karynnj]

2. Nice to see Kerry getting some credit on this in the BG

It still stuns me the amount of praise they give Brown - ignoring his two really lame Senate floor speeches (when he had pnemonia) the last week the Senate was in session - only to see his health was back by the time he was campaigning for Perry on the week-end. Kerry's voice sounded worse at the Disabilities hearing that I just reheard part of when I added it your thread, but as lucid, organized, and competent as he always is.