If the Congolese tragedy sometimes seems invisible to international eyes, the same cannot be said of Darfur in Sudan’s western region. The civil war and its resulting refugee crisis there has garnered many headlines in three years, during which tens of thousands have been killed and 2.5 million have fled their homes.
Much of the world has labeled the slaughter as genocide, holding the government in Khartoum primarily responsible.
On Tuesday, President Bush met with the leader of the largest rebel force following last week’s meeting with a Sudanese government official to promote the fragile peace agreement that the two sides signed in May.
The president is properly pressing for a United Nations peacekeeping mission to replace the ill-equipped and exhausted African Union force. A U.N. force could pave the way for humanitarian groups, which are now unable to safely get food to the vast majority of refugees living in camps. But the Sudanese government has rejected the idea, apparently fearing that U.N. troops might arrest government officials. Pro-government Arab militias have been blamed for the worst of the violence.
It is necessary, as well, for President Bush to appoint a new envoy to assist in the peace process. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick served well in advancing the May agreement, but he recently left his post for Wall Street. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Sen. Hillary Clinton last week called on the president to appoint an envoy to pick up where Zoellick left off. The African Union, which worked with the U.S. to broker the May agreement, clearly needs diplomatic support. While the agreement has held in some regions, violence has escalated in others, and every critical deadline has been missed. In recent months, several key American diplomats have fallen away, and it is critical that Bush strengthen the U.S. team by filling the vacancies.
Former special envoy John Danforth helped broker a peace agreement last year between the government of Khartoum and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, ending a 21-year conflict in southern Sudan. The former senator was frustrated with the lack of progress over Darfur, but efforts in May give a glint of hope. The U.N. and the U.S. need to keep up the pressure on the parties in Sudan and bring the Darfur genocide to an end.
