One way to see this is as a missed opportunity
Picture this:
The world is behind us, post-9/11. We do the Afghanistan thing with world-wide support. We stay focused there, rooting out the last of the Taliban and Al Qaida.
Then the Sudan genocide arises. But we are neither tied down not opposed militarily because we have not invaded Iraq. We can go back to the UN and tell them we need to lead a military intervention to prevent the genocide and we want the world behind us.
We would get the support. The Sudanese government would feel like an attack trained chihuahua facing the NYPD S.W.A.T. team. Lives saved, moral rectitude irrevocably established, the now-proven-illusory belief in the absolute power of the American military unchallenged and hence intact, American hegemony off to a rolling start.
Anyway…
Powell Heads for Darfur, Annan Arrives in Sudan
Wed Jun 30, 2004 06:49 AM ET
By Saul Hudson
KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell left for Sudan's troubled Darfur region on Wednesday on a trip aid agencies said could save lives by putting the pressure on Khartoum to curb Arab militias and streamline relief work.
As Powell took off from the Sudanese capital, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Khartoum on a similar mission, demonstrating the high-level international interest in the plight of some two million Darfuris affected by conflict.
Foreign aid officials said Powell's visit to a camp for people forced to leave their homes in Darfur could pressure the Sudanese government to ease the crisis and save lives.
Powell's trip to the scene of what is widely described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis will also highlight the need for aid and may spur other governments and institutions to help the Darfuris, they said.
Powell and Annan have warned Khartoum of possible Security Council action if its does not act against the Janjaweed Arab militias, which have been driving black Darfuris from their homes, and lift restrictions on access by relief organizations.
