Imagine a corrupt Third World dictator who took power in a coup, who locks up opponents, journalists, civil society leaders, students and anyone else who dares doubt his right to absolute power.
Imagine a leader who counts Iran and Hezbollah as his closest friends; a man who gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden for five years; and who has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Imagine a leader who denies rape exists in Muslim societies, even as his soldiers and their proxies systematically rape women and girls whom they consider racially inferior. Then imagine that America considers this leader their friend in the war on terror.
Why does the Obama Administration continue to handle Omar al Bashir and the Government of Sudan with kid gloves? Bashir’s regime, based in the capital, Khartoum, perpetrated genocide by attrition in the Nuba Mountains in the 1990s, and has carried out what Colin Powell, then US Secretary of State, defined as genocide in Darfur since 2003. Khartoum is once more committing crimes against humanity in both the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile regions today in an effort to ethnically cleanse the land of non-Arab groups.
Touting its efforts to rein in al Bashir and bring an end to the violence in Sudan, the Obama Administration notes it has engaged in years of dialogue with Khartoum, attempted to broker one peace deal after another, threatened sanctions, even imposed some sanctions, and that it is making at least some headway. And it would be correct, except for the highly uncomfortable fact that Khartoum continues to commit crimes against humanity at will, resulting in the deaths of thousands due to systematic bombing of its civilians, and ethnic cleansing by its ground troops in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile. In our efforts to appease Khartoum in the hope it will not return to war with its neighbor in South Sudan, we have turned a blind eye to the continuing bloodshed within Sudan.
Like Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic, al Bashir is a serial liar who has wasted our time in endless fruitless negotiations, only to disown his own promises. The Obama Administration knows this, but it mindlessly grinds on in the face of al Bashir’s false promises and murderous actions. It reminds one of Albert Einstein’s now famous assertion that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Bashir’s close associate, Ahmed Haroun is governor of South Kordofan, where the Nuba Mountains are located. Elected in a discredited poll, he, too, is wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. How would Americans react if a rigged election resulted in a felon wanted for murder, let alone mass murder, becoming governor? Indeed, how would the federal government react? And yet, this is the manner of regime the Obama Administration continues to appease when it should be hitting its leaders hard with crippling sanctions.
Why does the Obama Administration pull its punches with Sudan?
Why does the Obama Administration pull its punches with Sudan? Some claim Obama does not want to risk a war between Sudan and South Sudan. Others hint that Sudan allows the U.S. to track suspected terrorists who might be hiding in Sudan or crossing Sudan on their way to Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria. Or that Khartoum has allowed the U.S. to erect tiny drone bases throughout Sudan as part of its (the U.S.’) war on terrorism. Some speculate that the U.S. government has its eye on oil deposits. Still others venture that the U.S. wants a hand in Sudan to curtail Chinese hegemony there. Or it could be that Sudan, and its massive human rights abuses, simply does not matter in the scheme of things.
What should the Obama Administration do, if it aspires to a measure of consistency in its foreign policy? We should (1) Apply the most rigorous targeted smart sanctions possible on the architects of the genocide in Khartoum (at least as stringent as those applied to Iran); (2) Stiffen the United Nations’ resolve to open up a humanitarian corridor to the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile in deliver desperately needed food and medical supplies; and (3). Press America’s friends and recipients of US aid to arrest al Bashir and Haroun if they are on their territory, extraditing them to the ICC to stand trial.
The people of Darfur and the Nuba Mountains look to America as an inspiring model of democratic, accountable, secular and plural government to be emulated. Holding the Sudanese regime to its promises is the least we can do to justify their faith in us.
Samuel Totten, author of Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains, Sudan, recently returned from the war torn Nuba Mountains. Rebecca Tinsley is a former BBC reporter who started the human rights advocacy group Waging Peace after visiting the refugee camps in Darfur in 2004.
