Every newswire I looked at today reported that the situation in Darfur is worsening. It has been 3 years since the genocide began, 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes and up to 400,000 have died.
The UN has described it as the "the world's greatest humanitarian crisis." After 3 years of rape campaigns, starvation, and the destruction of village after village, no one has been held accountable. Many citizenhunters have e-mailed me about this grave issue - particularly, I'm proud to say, many young people wanting to know how they can make up for our goverment's slow and inadeqaute action.
Send a postcard to President Bush urging him to stop the genocide in Darfur, and talk with your feet by showing up to the rally on April 30 in Washington D.C.
The Bush administration has finally asked the UN to lead the peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, responding to what experts have been saying for years, that the conflict is too enormous for the African Union (AU) force to handle on its own. We do need to make sure the AU gets the funding it desperately needs, so call Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) at (202) 224-5054 to voice your concerns. He is the Committee Chairman for Senate Appropriations. Tell him to support the full $273 million requested for the AU peacekeepers.
And please be sure to check out all the Darfur action items and related site links to find out how you can stay informed and help make a difference today. Urgent action is needed!
UPDATE: Darfur is too dangerous for Red Cross to deliver humanitarian services. Take action: tell our government to help stop the genocide.
I felt the need to write about this not only because your help is desperately needed, but because there are not enough people talking about it, including our TV stations. Check this out and let them know you want that to change!
UPDATE 5/17: 7 members of the Congressional Black Caucus were arrested while protesting at Sudan's Embassy. "We will not tolerate genocide," said Rep. Mel Watt, (D-N.C)., the caucus chairman. "We are saying to Sudan this has got to stop."
thats for the information update on Darfur. what a tragedy. i will contact my senators, congressmen and president to ask them to put maximum preasure on the u.n. to intervene. what is the point of having the u.n. if it can't stop situations like this in Darfur?
Posted by: kevin c colgan at April 11, 2006 05:07 PMI was taught that you can tell a person's priorities by what they talk about, what they do, and what they spend money on. The priorities of a country are no different.
While we spend hundreds of millions on the war, the administration has called the situation in Darfur genocide, and we haven't the guts to take bold action where it's needed.
By ourselves, we may not have the clout to debate in the halls of power, enact and enforce laws, or command armies, but we are all responsible for the actions or inactions of our country.
All of us are responsible for our fellow human beings and can exercise the power we do have with our keyboards, our phones, and our pens. It is not one voice but the collective acts of a good people that will show the world our priorities: its what we talk about, what we do, and what we spend money on. Our power does not end on election day, but begins, because the people we elect are the instruments of our will and our priorities.
Posted by: JD at April 11, 2006 06:17 PMIt would be difficult to imagine any place on earth that has a greater need for our help than Dalfour, but we remain disengaged. Though there is perhaps noting bad or evil about it, this is but one more example that illustratesa that while we may justify our intrusions into the affairs of other countries in order to "help" those who are in need, are real motive in most instances is one of self-interest in which we point to th eplight of certain people in order to to justify action whose real purpose is too protect American geopolitical interests. In affairs of state a country is obligeds to protect and pursue its own own interests. However, would it not be a healthy turn of events if rather than making false and transparent reasons to justify self-interested conduct we merely told the world and the american people the truth about our real motives, and that every once in a while we reserve our power so that it can be used in situations like Delfur and we can tell the world and the people we are there simply because it is the right thing to do and we will be believed.
Posted by: Wiliam at April 11, 2006 08:20 PM"...and that every once in a while we reserve our power so that it can be used in situations like Delfur and we can tell the world and the people we are there simply because it is the right thing to do and we will be believed."
That, Mr. Coleman, is well said and a vision of a just and good country.
Some say we are the policemen of the world, but I'd like to think of ourselves as shepherds, looking after the least of our global neighbors, protecting all and neglecting none.
Often I wonder why things happen in the way they do. I have been lucky, or perhaps unlucky enough to see our country do great things in ugly parts of the world. To me the difficulties in understanding the process by which the choice is made to intervene transcend standard political party fluff.
Remember Haiti? How about Bosnia, after thousands of people were systematically killed, what about Sierra Leone?
Is it a question of exposure? Should their be more news coverage and ugly photo montages? Would that then motivate folks to write their elected officials? If Fox news (sorry it's all we get here in Iraq) can provide coverage nightly on the developments of the "Rape scandal at Duke University," couldn't they maybe show some of what is going on in Darfur? I think it rests on us, the public, to speak with our wallets. That is the only way things will change. As much as we don't want it to be so. It is how we truly show our interest in an issue.
Actions (in this case $$) speak louder than words.
Or maybe things have changed and we could be like the French and get together and have violent public demonstrations and the governement would then give in to our demands, becuse the political system is broke. Who knows...
Help me out on this one...
Good points Joe, thats why I signed up and joined the Marine Corps, to help people. Darfur would be a perfect example. I will call today.
S/F
Thank you for spreading this important message. Growing up as an American Jew I always wondered what I would have done to help my fellow Jews in Europe at the time of WWII. Unfortunately, a similiar situation is upon us, and it is our time to act. What can we do? We can make sure that the world knows and that the powers that be get involved and protect the innocent in Darfur!!
Posted by: Leah at April 12, 2006 10:56 AMThank you for helping bring this tragedy to the forefront. Too many people in this country have such myopic views that they don't realize we live in a world community. I'll be glad to help spread the word and do what I can to help. Keep up the great work.
Posted by: Norton the Blogger at April 12, 2006 12:34 PMGreat job Flavia. Good luck on your new adventure. As usual, it's done well, with style, and with a social consciousness that is so often lacking in today's political discourse. When are we going to have the privilege of voting for you for public office.
Posted by: Steve at April 12, 2006 12:37 PMHumanitarian Efforts in Darfur would be a great thing for our government to throw their money at but unfortuanately we have higher priorities such as neutralizing the threats in Iraq and protecting our nation from terrorism both foreign and domestic. Humanitarian Efforts, as with any volunteer work should be something that we offer only after we have our own problems under control. The unfortunate thing is that this great country of ours has spoiled the rest of the World by serving a Peace Maker so now it is expected for us to run to everyone's aide which is just not always possible. Finally, lets move to proposal for aide but not be totally shocked and upset when it is not sent.
For we can only do so much!
"Humantarian" is such a great word. It encompasses the challenge of saving lives, protecting the weak, and doing the right thing.
"Peace Maker" is also another great word for it not only describes a person or group, but the very act which God challenges us to do - Make Peace.
We must do all we can, whenever possible, lest we become their opposites: Selfish and hostile.
And we must never forget that no matter how hard it may seem, nothing is impossible for Americans.
This is our American challenge.
Keep living in your fantasy world, its all a process that is too enormous for you to even fathom. Words will not get it done alone it may get you in office but whats the use when u come to the same to the same conclusion that many a crook (I mean politician) have come before. Enjoy this endless road of propaganda though, it will get your far today, but you wont be remembered tomorrow unless u do something about it. I am out!
Posted by: Ed at April 14, 2006 10:53 PMThe new always happens against overwhelming odds of statistical laws and their probability, which for all practical, everyday purposes amounts to certainty; the new therefore always appears in the guise of a miracle. The fact that man is capable of action means that the unexpected can be expected from him, that he is able to perform what is infinitely improbable. And this again is possible only because each man is unique, so that with each birth something uniquely new comes into the world. --Hannah Arendt
Ed, you are not a progressive, so you will not understand this perennial truth:
The progressives of America have to, once again, save your butts from yourself, otherwise we would still be in caves, and guys like you would be saying how impossible it is to survive in the night..fire cannot possibly exist!