Genocide in Africa—again

Well, it is happening again, and once again the world is standing by.

In Darfur, a Texas-size region in western Sudan, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today is unfolding. For the past six months, the Arab Sudanese government has allied itself with the Janjaweed, a collection of Arab militias, in a vicious, merciless campaign to drive black, non-Muslim Africans from Darfur. They’ve bombed villages, pillaged and raped on a vast scale, destroyed homes and water sources and killed anyone they’ve found in order to “ethnically cleanse” the region.

As many as 30,000 are already dead. More than 1.1 million have been driven from their homes to squalid refugee camps in neighboring Chad and are now threatened by famine. American aid officials estimate that as many as 320,000 may die by the end of this year.

A number of international aid agencies are working in the area, but they’ve met active resistance from the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed. Now, the approaching rainy season threatens to hinder the delivery of aid.

If, remembering Rwanda, the great nations of the world are to do something to forestall a similar catastrophe in Darfur, they must do it soon. The Bush administration has spoken out against the atrocities and put pressure on Sudan, but much more is needed. The United States should be pushing the U.N. Security Council to insist Sudan stop the violence and disarm the Janjaweed. And, as Sen. John McCain has urged, it should provide financial and logistical support to countries willing to provide peacekeeping forces.

At a time when America is widely disrespected, even hated, around the world for its incompetence and hubris in Iraq, stopping genocide in Darfur would do much to help restore its reputation. And it would save hundreds of thousands of lives.