by Lynn Sweet
04/20/2006

Click here to read the entire article

Below is an excerpt of an article from the Chicago Sun Times:

CHICAGO (Chicago Sun Times) - The United States is trying but it is not doing enough to stop the genocidal killings and mass displacements in Darfur.

You can help pressure the Bush White House and Congress to do even more by marching in a rally to "Save Darfur'' on April 30 on the National Mall or at 4:30 p.m. May 1 at the Kluczynski Federal Building, 230 S. Dearborn.

…

The horrible irony of Darfur in 2006 is that the world has been quite aware for years of the escalating violence in the western region of Sudan between ethnic Africans and Arabs, both of whom share the Muslim faith. There are estimates that between 200,000 and 400,000 have died and 2.5 million people displaced.

…

On Sept. 9, 2004, the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell threw a thunderbolt when he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "genocide has occurred and may still be occurring in Darfur.'' It was the first time a U.S. official used the word to describe the actions of another country and was intended to prod the United Nations to take action.

The killing in Darfur did not end. The bloodshed, rape, torture and internal and external forced migrations only continue, and the conflict is spilling over to neighboring Chad.

President Bush backs doubling the African Union military force -- now at 7,000 soldiers from other African nations -- for an area the size of Texas and eventually moving possibly to U.N.- or NATO-led forces with an African Union component. Will Europe help, or is the dangerous job of peacekeeping left for the poor countries?

The roots of the clash are tied to racial and ethnic strife that deepened in 2003, pitting Arab Janjaweed militias allied with the ruling Sudanese regime of President Omar al-Bashir against opposition rebel groups. This year, the situation got more complicated as rebel groups are fighting for position among themselves for an upper hand, faced with the potential of peace negotiations.

"I think it's good we called this genocide. It's bad that we're not doing more to stop it,'' said Ken Bacon, president of Refugees International and a former Pentagon spokesman in the Clinton administration. Bacon spoke at a briefing last Thursday on policy options for Darfur sponsored by the Brookings Institution.

It is not easy. "But I think this is an area where pressure from the public is having an impact on what our government is doing,'' Bacon said.

…

The April 30 rally is being organized by the "Save Darfur Coalition'' comprising 155 groups, with faith-based organizations playing a central role. (Find the complete list of sponsors and more information at www.savedarfur.org.)

…

It's time for a sense of urgency.