aced. They have been displaced by, and their camps are now preyed upon, the same forces with which Annan appears to believe the crisis can begin to be resolved. Without the deployment of a strong, credible international force in Darfur, an increased Sudanese force will bring nothing but grief.
In the three months since it signed a cease-fire agreement that committed it to “neutralize” the Darfur militias, Bashir’s government has failed to take a single step to rein in the Janjaweed. On the contrary, many have been incorporated into the government’s own military and paramilitary forces. They could now be deployed, officially, as part of the increased security force Annan has approved.
The US has given Khartoum a list of Janjaweed leaders it believes are responsible for war crimes. Without immediate, significant action to disarm and withdraw the Janjaweed, Washington should follow up with a list of government leaders – most importantly, those behind the country’s militia policy and military intelligence. At the UN, it must twist arms, expend diplomatic capital, do whatever it takes to get support for measures including investigations into war crimes, the deployment of an international monitoring and protection force, a ban on arms sales to Sudan and sanctions on Sudan’s oil exports.
What we have seen so far has been little more than a game of bluff. And Khartoum has yet to blink.
Meanwhile the WSJ (via Instapundit) is understandably unimpressed by Kofi Annan and co.:
The real problem, as everyone knows but no one will admit, is Sudan’s murderous regime. But Mr. Annan and company can’t abide regime change, and in any case the U.S. military is too preoccupied to make that happen. That means we’re left with diplomatic pressure and visits like Mr. Powell’s, which are better than nothing but don’t solve the long-term problem.
It is fashionable these days to express distaste for American “unilateralism” and “hegemony.” The unfolding catastrophe in Darfur offers a chilling view of what the alternative really looks like.
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