In 1994, Canadian general Romeo Dallaire led a UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. General Dallaire, operating with a limited mandate and a small contingency of troops, pleaded with his superiors for the materials and authority to make a real difference stopping the genocidal slaughter unfolding outside his window. Instead, the UN, at the insistence of the United States, decided to do just the opposite, shrinking General Dallaire's mission and handcuffing him as the country descended into death.
After several years suffering beneath the memories of his failure in Rwanda and nearly committing suicide, General Dallaire has heroically become one of the world's most outspoken critics of inaction in the face of genocide. In 2004, as the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide arrived, General Dallaire told his story around the world, pleading that the international community not repeat Rwanda's mistakes in Sudan. The heads of those who heard General Dallaire invariably nodded in agreement. This man is right, we all thought. We must do things differently next time.
Yet, here we are.
On December 31, American funding for the African Union force charged with maintaining some semblance of security in Darfur will expire. This week, Congress rebuffed attempts to reinstitute next year's funding of the mission, funding the United States pledged and that Congress scrapped from the budget last month. This is not a murky situation. We know that genocide is occurring. We know that the African Union is the only force that can help -- in fact, we supported sending them there in the first place. We know that the funding for the AU is necessary to continuing their mission of protecting refugees and discouraging further destruction of villages. We know that our funding will expire. Yet we have scrapped our previous commitment to provide a third of the budget and refuse to restore it, putting the AU's mission in grave jeopardy. Once again, we are pulling the rug from beneath the only viable force who can confront a desperate situation.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who has championed the Darfur cause by visiting the region and keeping it high on the State Department's radar, desperately lobbied lawmakers to put the AU funding back into the defense appropriations bill for 2006. "We are in critical need of funding," Rice wrote to Congressional leaders, "to continue this mission at a robust level in 2006." However, Rice's pleas to restore the funding in the defense appropriations bill were ignored. While Democrats mustered the will to filibuster the bill due to a provision that would have allowed oil drilling in Alaska, there was hardly a peep from either party regarding the shameful failure to fund the very troops American leaders hailed as the answer to the unfolding tragedy in Sudan. Although to this point the United States has admirably provided $160 million to the mission, as well as logistical military assistance, such as airlifts, this act -- or failure to act -- by Congress threatens to undo any progress that has been made. By shirking our share of the burden, the U.S. not only deprived the AU of much-needed funding, it sent the signal to other donors -- the European Union -- that funding for this mission is not a high priority. How can we expect others to do their share when we fail to do our own?
Certainly, somewhere in Darfur there is an African Union general playing the role of Dallaire in this sequel. He is looking on the landscape beyond his window, seeing where he and his troops could provide valuable and vital protection to helpless civilians. He can see the attacks and gunfights his troops could stop -- or at least discourage -- if only they were given the tools and the authority. And he, like Dallaire, will soon get a call informing him that at this time of critical need -- for in a genocide, all times are of critical need -- his mission is not being enlarged, but limited. He, like Dallaire, will ask why, and he will learn that the international community, led by the American Congress, has determined that his mission is no longer worth funding. He, like Dallaire, will be handcuffed and forced to witness genocide. In a decade, he may travel the globe speaking to audiences of nodding heads and pleading that these mistakes not be repeated. Again. I hope this sequel never plays out, but after this week's failure by our Congress, I am not optimistic.
1 comment:
There has been a great deal of interest in action you can take to help stand against the genocide in Darfur. The first thing you can do is remain educated and keep the situation in mind and in conversation. This tragedy goes through ups and downs of publicity and the valleys allow for progress to be undone. For background information, there is a coalition of agencies working together on humanitarian aid and political advocacy for Darfur, Save Darfur. Their website, www.savedarfur.org is a great starting point. It provides a summary of the situation to date and updates on recent developments. A small step you can take is to put your email on their list so they can tell leaders they represent your concerns on this issue. In addition, I find the information from www.genocideintervention.net to be very useful from a different perspective. The Genocide Intervention Network was founded on the theory that humanitarian aid is not enough to stop genocide - physical intervention must occur. It provides much of the same information as savedarfur.org, but from this alternate view.
Next, write your leaders. SaveDarfur has a form letter they have set up to go to President Bush with copies to your Congressional representatives. The letter can be changed to express your specific feelings or sent in its current form. It is very important that leaders know we care. In turn, they care and hopefully act. The current push is to make sure that appropriations of $50B to the African Union is not cut from the Defense budget and to push for the House of Representatives to pass HR 3127 (already passed in Senate), a bill that authorizes the President to impose sanctions and take other similar actions.
The organizations I've chosen to support address the dual dilemmas in Darfur today -- supplies and security. For humanitarian aid, all the agencies in the SaveDarfur coalition are doing good work - pick one from that list that is meaningful to you and make certain your funds go to Darfur relief. I selected the American Jewish World Service because I do believe that Jews have a special responsibility when it comes to standing against genocide, but there are many great organizations to choose from. In addition, I am giving to the Genocide Intervention Network mentioned above. The Network provides communication and transportation equipment to the African Union troops and allows for them to provide armed escorts for women who may otherwise be attacked and raped. This increased security makes it more likely that the humanitarian aid that is so badly needed reaches those in need.
These are the steps I have chosen to take, but there are countless others. Do what you're comfortable doing in a way you're comfortable doing it. This does not have to be difficult or tedious or a burden, but it is so very important to take action where you see injustice. Thanks for your enthusiasm and do not hesitate to ask if you need any more information.
Post a Comment