Barack Obama spoke more like the leader we need when he was a U.S. Senator, not running for President. It must be easier to sound strong and resolute when you are not in the driver's seat. Bring back Barack. We voted for the man that promised us leadership. Where oh where has he gone?
Too much compromising on prinicples will get us mush (definition: a soft pulpy mass or consistency).
I put in an order for "a spine with principles".
How about it Mr. President?
Link to the video (since the embed isn't being accepted here at blogspot)
| Charlie Rose - Efraim Halevy / Sudan Panel |
56:24 - posted 3 years ago
Check out especially what Senator Barack Obama says about the engagement of USA citizens regarding Darfur at 31:40. And interesting what he says at at 41:00 - 42:42. Very interesting.
At 45:17 Barack steps in again and volunteers to speak about needing strong international support. Particularly with African, Middle Eastern and Muslim nations.
Then Ken Bacon follows Barack with an extremely important point until 47:40.
Jan Egeland states that Khartoum is"Enjoy(ing) impunity at the moment".
At 51:10 Kristof asked Senator Obama about how many emails elected officials need to get to get action done for the Darfur issue. Senator Obama's answer is priceless considering his 7 months of not being engaged in this issue as the leader of the free world, as President Obama. Or so, the USA used to be the leader of the free world, anyway. Not so sure anymore.
The Darfur section of this Charlie Rose show starts at 24:40 and goes to 56:24. Well worth a listening.
TODAY
I was on a national conference call with Jerry Fowler, President of Save Darfur Coalition, Sam Bell, spokesperson for Genocide Intervention Network and John Norris of the Enough Project.
The subject was the Sudan Policy Review and what we as activist concerned citizens must do now. I asked no questions, but listened to other activists from across the USA asked questions.
Unfortunately, yesterday due to not reading my email invitation until too late, I missed a Whitehouse invitation to listen in to a conference call held in the afternoon about the Sudan Policy. I regret this immensely.
TWO THINGS
President Obama needs to hear from U.S. citizens that if he wants Khartoum to take us seriously, he must get directly engaged.
We must contact our U.S. Senators and Representatives and ask them what they plan to do to make sure this Sudan Policy that we have waited 7 months for is implemented and how soon. And also to educate them if necessary to understand this is not just an isolated issue in Darfur, but includes southern Sudan as well as the effects on Chad the bordering country to the west of the largest country in Africa, Sudan.
Information is below, to make it easy for you.
Don't be afraid.
Democracy doesn't work without democratic actions by our citizens.
1-800-GENOCIDE
Genocide Intervention Network has created the first anti-genocide hotline. Call 1-800-GENOCIDE and enter in your zip code and be connected directly to your elected officials for free.
The hotline will provide you with up-to-date talking points related to current Darfur legislation and other actions your elected officials can take to help end the genocide. Call today and make Darfur a top priority for your representative, senators and the White House.
Click on a link below to view talking points for the appropriate elected representative:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
The President's Official Comment Phone line
202-456-1111
You can also write to the President at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please include your e-mail address
Each state has two
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Representatives
Everyone has one Representative for your area or district,
but has a number of Representatives for each state
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
This op-ed originally appeared in today's Guardian.
After a lengthy internal battle, the Obama administration has formally rolled out its new Sudan policy. The policy spells out some ambitious goals: a definitive end to conflict and genocide in Darfur, implementation of the 2005 North-South peace deal and peaceful moves toward a 2011 referendum that will likely result in South Sudan becoming independent.
Like many such policy reviews, this one looks good enough on paper. But how will we know if this policy is actually working? These are the practical measures by which Obama's new policy will ultimately be judged a success or a failure.
Returns
In Darfur, there is probably no better barometer for the relative success or failure of the international community than the almost 3 million people who remain displaced or refugees after having been forced to flee from their homes by the government-backed janjaweed militias.
Refugees and the displaced vote with their feet. They are almost universally desperate to return to their former homes, but will only do so if security is sufficient for them to do so. To date, the UN force on the ground in Darfur has been largely ineffective, there has been no credible effort to disarm the janjaweed militias that caused such havoc and peace talks for Darfur have moved forward fitfully. Refugees and displaced persons know full well that their lands and villages are still occupied by armed thugs responsible for some of this century's most horrific war crimes.
Under such conditions it would be madness for these families who have already suffered so much to return home. The answer: a far more effective and robust peacekeeping force on the ground (with Khartoum's de facto veto power over UN operations taken away), practical steps to disarm the janjaweed and a solid peace agreement between the government and rebel forces brokered with international oversight and guarantees.
The White House policy review places a lot of emphasis on a peace deal in Darfur. However, there have been few signs Washington or European capitals are willing to tackle the tough choices required to improve security on the ground, and officials have often been overly eager to portray a recent lull in fighting in Darfur as a sign that the fundamentals are improving.
Click here to continue reading about the other fronts on which Obama’s Sudan policy will be tested.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read at
Something For Everyone - Why Implementation Matters
blogfordarfur.org
Activist Groups Cautiously Praise New Policy
allafrica.com/stories/200910200007
whilewewaitsudan
October 20, 2009
Sudan's Bashir Skips Kampala Visit
allafrica.com/stories/200910200006
No comments:
Post a Comment