Back from a trip to the Nuevo Laredo/Laredo border to renew the vehicle permit for my car. In Mexico City, the temperature rarely gets above 25 or 26 degrees. The average temperature in Laredo is about 40 Celsius (about 100 F). Man, it was hot.
Returning to the news world...
In a commentary on the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, David Clark, former special adviser at the British Foreign Office, demonstrates one more time why those who supported the war were, among other things, guilty of an appalling shortsightedness.
...The tragedy of Darfur is not the result of some ghastly mistake; it is the product of a criminal enterprise orchestrated by the regime. All the authoritative reporting on Darfur, including the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, describes exactly the same pattern of events. Attacks usually start with the bombing of crowded areas, such as markets, by fixed-wing aircraft or attack helicopters operated by the government. Then come ground assaults by Sudanese regulars and the Janjaweed, often operating together.Against this background it is naive to imagine that a durable settlement can be achieved by diplomacy alone. The international community can extract as many promises of co-operation and restraint as it likes. Khartoum has broken countless similar pledges before and won't hesitate to do so again when it thinks it can get away with it. The only pressure likely to modify its behaviour in the long term is the belief that the international community would be willing to use force as a last resort.
No one is arguing for a ground invasion now, but for the threat to be effective, the intent would have to be real. The UN Security Council should enforce a no-fly zone, with further steps to follow if the regime refuses to stop its attacks on civilians or blocks relief supplies. A commission should also be established to investigate war crimes allegations and remind members of the Sudanese government that they will be held to account for their actions.
Having cried wolf over the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Britain and America have found themselves incapacitated in the face of a far more pressing humanitarian crisis. They are too overstretched, in military resources and in political credibility, to intervene in Sudan, so the people of Darfur will be left at the mercy of their government.
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