a double dog dare
by John at 7/08/2004 09:37:00 AM
This is good, but it could be better.
Danforth, our new US Ambassador to the UN (replacing Negroponte, who is our new US Ambassador to Iraq), is calling for swift action on Sudan. The UN Security Council is still discussing the draft proposal by the US to ban travel and arms sales to the Janjaweed militia. We should also be acting to authorize funds for humanitarian aid - it's cheap compared to what we spend on so many other things.
But I double dog dare him to call it genocide. This would force the hand of the UN and signatory states under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Unfortunately, it would force our hand as well (unless we no longer consider ourselves bound by the treaties we sign, which is a possible).
Once again, I'll say it: if we believe in this stuff, we have to act like we believe in it.
You have called/mailed/emailed your congressional representatives, right? And President Bush? You can look up their names, numbers, and addresses at www.vote-smart.org. It's so easy to do, and only takes a moment. Here is a copy of the email I sent to Sen. Specter:
Senator Specter,
In May, the Senate unanimously passed S Con Res 99, condemning Sudan
for the crisis in Darfur. I am writing to urge you to continue to
pressure the government of Sudan to end the violence and allow
humanitarian aid to enter the region by supporting Sec. of State
Powell's call for UN action. We must act multilaterally on this issue.
If we act immediately, hundreds of thousands of lives can be saved
from death by disease and starvation.
Sincerely,
[name and address deleted, but put it here if you want their attention as a constituent]
See the former post for extra information.
Update: Gambits don't hide Darfur crisis
Danforth, our new US Ambassador to the UN (replacing Negroponte, who is our new US Ambassador to Iraq), is calling for swift action on Sudan. The UN Security Council is still discussing the draft proposal by the US to ban travel and arms sales to the Janjaweed militia. We should also be acting to authorize funds for humanitarian aid - it's cheap compared to what we spend on so many other things.
But I double dog dare him to call it genocide. This would force the hand of the UN and signatory states under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Unfortunately, it would force our hand as well (unless we no longer consider ourselves bound by the treaties we sign, which is a possible).
Once again, I'll say it: if we believe in this stuff, we have to act like we believe in it.
You have called/mailed/emailed your congressional representatives, right? And President Bush? You can look up their names, numbers, and addresses at www.vote-smart.org. It's so easy to do, and only takes a moment. Here is a copy of the email I sent to Sen. Specter:
Senator Specter,
In May, the Senate unanimously passed S Con Res 99, condemning Sudan
for the crisis in Darfur. I am writing to urge you to continue to
pressure the government of Sudan to end the violence and allow
humanitarian aid to enter the region by supporting Sec. of State
Powell's call for UN action. We must act multilaterally on this issue.
If we act immediately, hundreds of thousands of lives can be saved
from death by disease and starvation.
Sincerely,
[name and address deleted, but put it here if you want their attention as a constituent]
See the former post for extra information.
Update: Gambits don't hide Darfur crisis
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