Failure to Protect: International Response to Darfur Genocide
http://www.harvardir.org/articles/1715/
By Eric Reeves (Smith College)
Reviewed by William S. Lefes (Retired Mission Director, USAID)

A retired Foreign Service Officer who worked with USAID for 28 years — 15 of them in five African countries — this reviewer shares with Professor Reeves and others with an abiding interest in Africa their frustration with the state of the continent's political and cultural affairs. Reeves' accounting of the history of repeated diplomatic attempts to end genocide in Darfur is well known. The meager responses of the UN have yielded only more suffering and death. The Sudanese government pretends that it is above the fray, though it encourages and arms its lackey, the National Islamic Front (NIF), to carry out its dastardly deeds of destruction.

Reeves hits the nail on the head when he states that there has never been any stomach to confront, in effective and concerted fashion, the ruthless tyranny of the NIF. No wonder, who can be intimidated by a toothless monster? The Sudanese government and the NIF can count on the temerity of UN and African Unity countries fearful of stepping into the quagmire of Darfur. It is no secret that the UN is unable to function because too many of its members are thinking that they might find themselves in a similar situation one day and they would not want UN armed forces knocking on their door.

Professor Reeves lays out a clear and factual picture of the background and current situation in Darfur. He provides broad hints concerning ways to solve the problem but stops short of prodding the herd into action. I applaud his restraint in the face of an urgent need to take action against the Sudanese regime. He does come close, however, when he writes that the international community must fashion the broadly coercive measures necessary to compel Khartoum to honor its various commitments.

China would clearly oppose any drastic action against the Sudanese, but taking a leaf from the notebook of the Tibetans, this Olympic summer is an excellent time to act. Given the realities of the situation in Darfur, armed force must be the next step. This should only be undertaken if we truly do not want to see the complete dissemination of the southern Sudanese people. The armed force will have to come from a source other than the UN, which should sanction the move. To dissuade the Sudanese from further mischief, that force must take out Sudan's air force and army camps — the two most precious emeralds of the regime — and the presidential palace. Nothing short of a serious attempt to destroy these assets will convince Khartoum's thugs to end the genocide that has murdered over a quarter million of their own people.