Why not act now?

Darfur continues to be a major humanitarian disaster. Despite international attention on the continuing massacres, little concrete action is occurring. The Americans are hesitating to get involved for reasons less than noble, the UN prevaricates, the EU is pre-occupied with (rightly) fighting American hegemony (though this is hardly an excuse not to act in circumstances like these) and the African Union is weak. The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof explains the background to Bush’s inaction.

The Darfur Accountability Act, already passed by the US Senate, recommends “for such steps as freezing assets of the genocide’s leaders and imposing an internationally backed no-fly zone to stop Sudan’s Army from strafing villages.” Bush is directing Congress not to take action. Why? Kristof explains three reasons. The third is the most disturbing:

“Sudan’s leaders have increased their cooperation with the C.I.A. As The Los Angeles Times reported, the C.I.A. recently flew Sudan’s intelligence chief to Washington for consultations about the war on terror, and the White House doesn’t want to jeopardize that channel.”

So there we have it. Collusion in the “War on Terror” takes precedence over saving millions of lives. Bush talks about spreading democracy and freedom around the world but the reality is much darker than he’d like people to know. Let us not forget that Sudan was a longtime supporter of al-Qaeda. It is now a “valuable ally” of the CIA.