Natsios on Darfur

Joseph Loconte

If there is a single foreign policy issue that shocks the conscience of activists and politicians of all dispositions, it is the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in the Darfur region of Sudan. Since fighting broke out between rebel groups and government forces in 2003, it is estimated that over 250,000 civilians have been killed, mostly at the instigation of the Arab supremacist regime in Khartoum. More than 2 million people have been displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands languish in refugee camps. Meanwhile, the survival of Sudan as a state seems to be at risk.

Former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, warns that the 2005 peace agreement that ended the horrendous civil war between Arabs in the north and Christians and animists in the south shows signs of unraveling. Writing in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Natsios argues for a policy of vigorous U.S. engagement with the Sudanese government to shore up the peace agreement: “Although U.S. policymakers must never forget what happened in Darfur . . . those who focus on the region’s past run the risk of compromising the entire country’s future,” he writes. “During the critically important year ahead, Washington should pursue a prudent and nuanced but aggressive policy of engagement—this is both good policy and the right thing to do.”

Mr. Natsios makes an earnest and intelligent appeal, but the behavior of the Islamist regime is not peripheral to the crisis; it is the overriding cause of the human suffering that has brought the country to the brink of collapse. It is problematic, at best, to believe that a government as violent and treacherous as that of Omar al-Bashir will respond to anything short of targeted, multilateral sanctions and the real threat of military intervention. It is no mere coincidence, for example, that Sudan submitted to the peace accord in 2005—shortly after the United States had toppled the dictatorships in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nevertheless, Mr. Natsios’s article, “Beyond Darfur: Sudan’s Slide Toward Civil War,” offers an informed and thorough look at the crisis.

Christian leaders, Catholics and evangelicals, have been deeply involved in various aspects of both conflicts—including mediation, refugee resettlement, humanitarian assistance, and political activism. They would do well to read what probably represents the U.S. State Department position, and then make their own views heard, loud and clear.

Fodder, Good and Evil, Leadership, War and Peace, Mon 16 Jun 2008