Bush on Darfur: Every Embryo is Sacred, but not Every African

You have to hand it to the New York Times columnist, Nick Kristof. He has led a virutal one-columnist crusade to make the world pay attention to the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. Today's column is a good one where Kristof is again asking our government to get off it's duff and do something to stop the killing. The common excuse given is that we don't want to see another Somalia, where American troops were sent and a resulting debacle took place that has been captured in the movie and book, "Blackhawk Down." The other excuse is that our military is stretched pretty thin, and we can't afford to send more troops to another part of the world.

But as Kristof notes, we don't need to worry about another Somalia or Iraq. The African Union already has troops in the region and has done what they can to stop the killing. What we need to do is not send troops as much as giving the African Union the resources it needs to to strengthen it's presence on the ground. The US could also lead by going to the UN and establishing a no-fly zone in the area to prevent the Sudanese from straifing villages.

The fact is, American doesn't have to send soliders to Sudan. We do need to send aid and a little leadership.

President Bush has talk a lot about a so-called "culture of life" but has done little to help those who are suffering under the terror of the Sudanese government and the janjaweed milita. Kristof nails it when he says:

Mr. Bush values a frozen embryo. But he hasn't mustered much compassion for an entire population of terrorized widows and orphans. And he is cementing in place the very hopelessness he dreads, by continuing to avert his eyes from the first genocide of the 21st century.

All I can say to that is amen.