Plan B for Darfur

Save Darfur.org says that our plan for saving the troubled region has failed and that it's time for "Plan B." Drop by and encourage the President to be proactive (as proactive as one can be at this point) in stopping the genocide in Darfur.

In related Darfur news, my former Senator, Bill Frist, to his credit has been doing his part to stop the atrocities. I disagreed with just about everything Frist did while he was in office, but commend his recent efforts to raise awareness about Darfur and pressure President Bashir of the Sudan.

A Small Step, but a Step in the Right Direction

The administration puts a little more pressure on The Sudan. From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States will impose tough new measures against Sudan, likely within days, to try to force it to change course on Darfur and aims to pressure Khartoum militarily by helping rebuild forces in the south, U.S. officials said.

State Department, Defense, Treasury and other U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the goal was to "tighten the screws" on President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and have him accept an international force in the vast western province.

A White House announcement on sanctions and a further limit on dollar transactions was expected very soon, a State Department official said.

It's a start, but making a real impact in Darfur will likely require a multilateral military presence. More specifically, Save Darfur's Plan B proposal includes the following:

• Develop and implement, with our NATO allies, of a no-fly zone covering Sudanese military flights over Darfur. This could be accomplished by immobilizing Sudanese planes known to have taken part in illegal bombing missions.

• Engage with the United Nations to prepare and deploy a protection force for civilians in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.

• Prepare for the deployment of a credible and effective international force to Darfur to protect vulnerable civilians and ensure conditions for effective humanitarian aid. This should include a request to Congress to pay the U.S.’s full share of UN peacekeeping dues.

Bad News From Darfur

From Reuters:

GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations human rights monitors on Friday accused Sudan's army of dropping bombs on villages in North Darfur, killing and injuring civilians, and driving hundreds of people from their homes.

"All indications are this kind of attack is continuing."

Monitors also reported continuing rapes and sexual violence against women by military or militia known as Janjaweed around camps for the displaced in South Darfur, Diaz said.

Write the President and remind him of the urgency of this situation.

Related: We Need to Do Something About Darfur Now! (September 15, 2006)

We Need to Do Something About Darfur Now!

From The Independent (UK):

Rasha Ibrahim Adam and her children may be about to die - just as she thought they had all escaped to safety. . . .

She was one of the 50,000 people who swelled the scorched camps for the "internally displaced" in the past month - bringing to about 2.5 million the number of children, women and men now homeless in a conflict that has dragged on for three years without an end seemingly in sight. Until now, that is. Because an end is in sight for the Darfur camps - where at least 300,000 black African farmers have been slaughtered by the Khartoum government and its Arab proxies, the Janjaweed militia, whose name means "devils on horseback". . . .

The 7,000 troops of the African Union, who have been desperately trying to protect the camps, have been told by Khartoum they must leave Darfur at the end of this month when their mandate runs out. Sudan has defied a UN resolution that mandated an improved 20,000-strong blue-hatted UN force to take over.

Instead, it is sending 10,000 of its own troops to the region for what human rights observers fear will be a brutal "final solution".

In a situation already described by the UN as the "world's worst humanitarian disaster" the genocide so long denied by the Arab government in Khartoum may be about to happen.

Why aren't American media outlets covering this story? It pops up every few weeks, but there's no sustained coverage. Say what you want about George Clooney, but were it not for him, Americans might be ignoring this genocide entirely. And given the magnitude of the problem in the Sudan, you'd think we'd put at least as much diplomatic muscle behind this crisis as we did the conflict in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. (Don't get me wrong, the Middle East deserves our attention, but its problems are minor compared to those in Darfur.)

More from Africa Action.

Contact our President and urge him to take action now.

As Though We're Already Too Late

The tone of this CNN.com article struck me. Often faith communities talk about the genocide in the Darfur region of The Sudan as a crisis we must address; this article talks of Darfur as a crisis we've already failed to address. The international community said that it would never allow another Rwanda, but it has.

That said, the killing has not stopped, and there is much that the church, the American government, foreign governments, and the United Nations must do immediately to end the genocide in Darfur and provide relief to those who have been displaced. And while we're at it, we need to do something about the equally horrific crisis in the Congo.

I Don't Understand Why the International Community Doesn't Care About Darfur

From the Washington Times:

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday delivered a strong rebuke of the Sudanese government -- and backhanded criticism of the United Nations -- over a lack of progress in halting the genocide in Darfur, and he promised sanctions if action is not taken.

"The status quo must not continue," Mr. Bush said, threatening economic sanctions and a new resolution to the U.N. Security Council that would restrict arms sales to Sudan and limit the Sudanese government's use of its own military.

I don't understand why, after four years of genocide, we are just now threatening sanctions and a Security Council resolution. That should have happened long ago, and it certainly shouldn't be conditional now. The Sudanese government has had plenty of opportunities to take action; they don't deserve more chances.

Even worse is the attitude of fellow Security Council members Russia and China:

But China and Russia, which hold two of the five permanent seats on the 15-member Security Council and could each veto any action, yesterday both objected to Mr. Bush's strong language and to the idea of further sanctions or a new resolution.

"We don't think it's the right time. It would be very strange," said Vitaly Churkin, Russia's U.N. ambassador. "Why do we have to be so negative?"

What?! We have to be negative because 450,000 people have died. I just can't understand how, after what happened in Rwanda 11 years ago, the international community can be so apathetic about Darfur.

Israel Doesn't Know What to Do With Sudanese Refugees

Israel has its own immigration dispute. From Morning Edition:

About 350 refugees from Sudan have been intercepted entering Israel illegally over the past two years, with about a third of them coming from the conflict zone of Darfur.

All the refugees have been jailed in Israel, many for more than a year. Israeli officials say they have to be cautious about Sudanese because Sudan is an enemy state.

But Israeli human rights groups say a nation built in part by genocide survivors has a special responsibility to help other victims. The Sudanese government has been accused of waging genocide in Darfur. . . .

As a temporary solution, Bavli and several Israeli human rights groups negotiated a deal with the Israeli government to release more than 100 of the refugees -– al-Bakr among them — into the custody of kibbutzim, collective farming villages.

But what really struck me about this story was the last sentence:

Bavli says the U.N. has been unable to get any third country to agree to accept [the refugees], either.

Why isn't anyone willing to accept 100-150 refugees from Darfur? Is the entire world so callous that we won't reach out to people desperately running for safety? As many more refugees flee the region, will we continue rejecting them? This may call for a letter to the President.

What Slavery in Brazil Teaches Me About Myself

This story was buried in the "World" section of CNN.com this weekend:

(CNN) -- Slavery may seem like a quaint notion in a 21st century world, but that distinction is lost on up to 40,000 Brazilians who find themselves toiling for no real wages and can't leave the distant work camps where they live.

Actually, I almost dismissed this story because it seems so small in comparison to genocide in Darfur and the Congo, child conscription in Burma, etc. 40,000 slaves. No big deal. Nothing to lose sleep over.

Here are a few of the things that have caused me significantly more stress in the past few days than slavery in Brazil (or genocide or child conscription for that matter):

1. My laptop will not boot up, and to save my data I must find some kind soul an Intel-based Mac who doesn't mind my dumping 23 G's of songs, videos, and photos onto his or her machine.


2. My two-year-old daughter is regressing in her potty training.


3. Alge Crumpler fumbled on the one-yard line.


4. I spent much of Saturday morning and afternoon cleaning the house. By Sunday evening my work had been undone entirely.

There you go. These are the sorts of things that bother me more than slavery and genocide. That's unacceptable.

Actually, I had two reasons for not dismissing the Brazilian slavery story. They were:

1. I thought I could use it in my Sunday school class.


2. I figured it would make good blogging material.

Obviously, my priorities are out of whack. This much was confirmed by this morning's Upper Room devotional. Pray for me. I have a lot of work to do.

A Quick Word on 2008

I don't have time to do a full-blown 2008 retrospective or an end-of-year "best of" list, but here's a quick thought about the year that was:

Personally, I'll always remember 2008 as the year when my youngest child was born and when I completed the manuscript for my first book. And, for many years to come, people will look back on 2008 and remember Barack Obama's historic win in the U.S. Presidential Election, Michael Phelps' eight gold medals, and (possibly) the death of American capitalism as we know it. But one day I think that we'll also look back on 2008 as a year when we, as a global community, failed to do anything substantial to end genocide in The Congo and the Darfur region of The Sudan. Sorry to end the year on a down note.

Needless to Say, Continue Praying for Darfur

An escaped former Sudanese soldiers tells CNN about how he was ordered to kill civilians and rape children. This is one of the most depressing, disturbing, and disheartening news articles I've ever read.

Thursday Links

• Let's Worry Less About Anna Nicole, More About Chad and Darfur (Huffington Post Blog)


• Former NBA All-Star Timmy Hardaway: Gots Skills, Hates Gay People (ESPN.com)


• Congressman Compares US Effort in Iraq to Mowing a Neighbor's Lawn (Wonkette): "The neighbor never says thank you. He hates you and sometimes he takes out a gun and shoots at you."


• Man Fakes Own Kidnapping so He Won't Have to Tell His Wife He Crashed the Car (AP)


• Building a Better Josh Tinley.com: I did some more work last night on the new site, which is currently housed at Corrupt Generation.com.

Tell UN Security Council to Hold Sudanese President Bashir Accountable for Genocide

The Save Darfur Coalition is circulating a petition to pressure the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to hold Sudanese President Bashir accountable for genocide the Dafur region of his country by fully deploying UN peacekeepers in the area. This petition is partially in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor charging Bashir with genocide.

A Few Things You Might Enjoy

• Teen raises money to buy stoves for women in Darfur who might otherwise be raped or killed retrieving firewood (CNN.com)


• "Girls take male wrestlers to the mat" (News & Observer)


• "Difficult to tell if T.J. Maxx hit hard by depression" (The Onion)

Follow @weepwith

Weep With Those Who Weep (@weepwith) is a new Twitter-based effort to draw attention to disasters, conflicts, epidemics, and crises from around the world, particularly those that most North Americans otherwise would overlook. For example: ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan, a cholera outbreak in Cameroon, a fire at a nursery in Romania, and continued problems in Darfur. @weepwith also alerts followers to ways they can respond to these tragedies. Click here to follow.

Picture: "The Loss of Love" by Leslie Brown

Civil Rights Legend Calls Me Out

As a part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration at my workplace, my employer hosted a roundtable discussion/seminar on prophetic voice and speaking truth to power. Many Nashville-area prophets were in attendance as was esteemed civil rights leader and fellow United Methodist James Lawson, who would give the sermon at the worship service that followed. Among other accomplishments, Rev. Lawson organized the Nashville sit-ins of the early sixties and the sanitation workers strike that brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis, where he spent his final days. Lawson was also famously expelled from my alma mater, Vanderbilt Divinity School, for his civil rights activism. Many faculty left the school in protest after Lawson's expulsion. Ironically, Lawson now teaches at VDS.

Anyway, the seminar focused on speaking truth to power and prophetic voice, specifically with regard to the Iraq War and healthcare (two issues that King would no doubt be passionate about were he alive today). I made the point that, in my current ministry, I cannot simply take a stand on certain peace and justice issues. I must serve a denomination made up of people with very diverse opinions and whose official statements on touchy issues are often wishy-washy. If I advocate too strongly for a particular stance on an issue that United Methodists passionately disagree on, I push people away and risk losing my job. Some would say that my job requires me to sacrifice truth or compromise my values, but I don't see it that way. I think my job requires me to listen, to seek the counsel of others, and to direct people to the witness of Scripture and the church. From there, I encourage them to use discernment (both as individuals and in communities). I must also build a certain amount of trust with the people I serve. (I'd say more, but I like to keep work and blogging separate.)

Rev. Lawson disagreed. He didn't disagree during the seminar, but he repeated what I'd said during his sermon (in front of a much larger audience) and explained why I was wrong. He recalled church materials produced in the fifties and sixties that presented both sides of segregation and women's rights and allowed church members to discern which side was more in line with God's will. These materials essentially gave comfort to racist and sexist Christians; they presented a more godly, enlightened perspective, but didn't push it on anyone. In other words, James Lawson likened me to racist-enabling church publishers of yesteryear.

I see his point. And, when it comes to some issues—Darfur or materialism, for instance—I think that the church can and should say, "The Gospel is clear on this matter." But other issues are more complex, and I think that discernment in these matters is appropriate.

At any rate, I'm honored that a legend of the Civil Rights Movement dissed me in a public forum.

Invisible Genocide

Think Progress has a good post about the media's silence about genocide in Darfur. I admit that I have payed little attention to the ongoing massacre in Sudan, paying more attention to Star Wars movies, Weezer albums, and Nick Hornby books. In so far as this blog (with a readership approaching double digits) counts as "the media," I am a part of the problem. That our culture is mesmorized by reality television and the saga of the runaway bride but cares not a lick for the systematic murder of hundreds of thousands of people is disturbing. But, again, I can't say that I'm helping.