 President George W. Bush said on Tuesday the United States was looking at new ways to stop the violence in Darfur after getting a "grim" report about the humanitarian crisis from his special envoy.
| I'd suggest an ultimatum to the Sudanese government to cease and desist. If they don't, begin bombing every manifestation of Sudanese military activity, from their MoD to Joe Jeep Jockey. |
"The United States is going to work with the international community to come up with a single plan on how to address this issue and save lives," Bush said after meeting envoy Andrew Natsios, who spent 10 days in Sudan this month.
| Unfortunately, we've been "working with the international community," which, as usual, suffers from testicular paralysis. Time passeth, and the slaughter continues while the striped pants set has some pretty good lunches. |
"He came back with a grim report," Bush said. "The people who have suffered there need to know that the United States will work with others to help solve the problem. And the government of Sudan must understand that we're serious."
| The government of Sudan would know we were serious of we began turning all Sudanese military installations into rubble and all Sudanese military equipment into scrap metal. |
The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government. In response, the government mobilized Arab militias known as Janjaweed, who have been accused of murder, rape and looting. An estimated 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes during violence that has included rape, killing and looting.
| But the UN can't bring itself to admit that 200,000 dead is genocide. |
Although it declared more than two years ago that genocide had occurred in Darfur, the United States has been unable to stop the violence or to persuade the government to accept a U.N. peace-keeping force of up to 22,500 troops and police.
| The U.S. calls it genocide. The UN calls it "unfortunate." |
Bush, and a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, both suggested they were looking at what more they can do but provided few details on how they might influence the Khartoum government. "We are reaching the crunch point. It's important that the Sudanese government be in no doubt at all of our seriousness," Blair's spokesman said after the British prime minister met Sudanese Vice President Salva Kiir in London. |