Brian Kennedy
5 January 2009
Washington, DC — United States President George W. Bush on Monday authorized an immediate airlift of equipment and supplies to the international peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.
Following a meeting at the White House Monday morning with Salva Kiir, the first vice-president of Sudan and president of Southern Sudan, Bush said that he provided a waiver so the State Department "can begin to move 240 containers' worth of heavy equipment into Darfur." He added that the Defense Department will also fly equipment in from Rwanda.
Bush said the meeting covered both the situation in Darfur and the 2005 peace agreement between the government in the north of the country headed by Omar al-Bashir and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which Kiir now leads.
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who made the airlift announcement shortly before the Oval Office meeting, said that Bush waived congressional notification requirements because "failing to do so would pose a substantial risk to human health and welfare." Hadley cited the immediate need to improve the security situation in west Darfur to allow for aid deliveries.
Hadley also lashed out at critics, singling out New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who have argued that President Bush did not do enough under his watch to end the violence in Darfur. "President Bush has been committed to resolving the crisis there since the United States first labeled it genocide in 2004," Hadley said.
Kristof wrote in a blog entry following the announcement that the airlift "sure smells of a desperate effort to burnish the administration’s legacy on Darfur, but better late than never."
The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was established in July 2007, but the peacekeeping force has struggled to secure the region due to a lack of troops and equipment. Bush has reportedly grown impatient with the lack of progress UNAMID has made since being deployed.
Bush said "it's going to be very important for the United States to pay attention to the implementation" of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which he called 'vital'. The White House meeting was arranged to mark the fourth anniversary on January of the signing, which some observers consider one of the Bush administration's major foreign policy accomplishments.
Kiir thanked Bush and his administration "for the commitment they have shown to the people of Sudan to bring peace and continue to monitor that peace." He said he told the president that the people of of southern Sudan "will never forget him for all that he has done for them.
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This is an outrageous attempt by Bush to gain political clout. There is no question that Obama is going to support Darfur refugees. President Bush realizes that he must do something now or else he will look like a complete diabolical monster when Obama does. For five years we failed to do anything for Darfur. Now, with just 15 days left in the Bush presidency we actually air lift equipment that has been sitting around in Rwanda. I don't think any one is ever going to give Bush credit for this. I can't believe that he could be so low as to use Darfur for political collateral. Kristoff is absolutely spot on. After Russia invaded Georgia we somehow pulled a billion dollars out of thin air for the Georgians. Yet, after nearly 8 years we barely get around to Darfur. This is as ludicrous as it is depraved.
Well I read This is an outrageous attempt by Bush to gain political clout. There is no question that Obama is going to support Darfur refugees. President Bush realizes that he must do something now or else he will look like a complete diabolical monster when Obama does. For five years we failed to do anything for Darfur. I think Obama's must will do complete as soon as possible.
---------- Sanjeev ----------
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Well I read This is an outrageous attempt by Bush to gain political clout. There is no question that Obama is going to support Darfur refugees. President Bush realizes that he must do something now or else he will look like a complete diabolical monster when Obama does. For five years we failed to do anything for Darfur. I think Obama's must will do complete as soon as possible.
------------ Sanjeev
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U know people should think before they talk. why must it be BUSH WHEN ALL YOUR AFRICAN LEADERS JUST LAZE AROUND WITH ONE EXCEPTION. WHEN THE WHITE MAN COMES IN ONE OF YOUR LEADERS LIKE BOB MUGABE ARE YELLING THEIR GUTS OUT AT HIM LIKE ZIM IS MINE KEEP YOUR BRITAIN. HAVENT U LEARNT THE WAYS OF A HONKY!!!
THE WHITE MAN MUST DO EVERYTHING E.G. TAKE CARE OF THOSE SOMALI PIRATES ETC. WHILE YOUR LEADERS JUST PUT THEIR HANDS OUT TO BEG AND STASH ALL THE AID MONEY IN THEIR SWISS ACCOUNTS
This is/was long overdue. How long must Darfur suffer under the ignorant regime of Omar Bashir. By the time Obama is done with fixing the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, Darfurians would have been wiped out. Good for Bush: better late than never at all. Darfurians will take it no matter what the detractors feel about it.
Thank you andrew for looking deeper than the outer colour of this whole issue. The sudan problem is a complex one that even has the ugly hands of Bin Laden in it. Remember it is muslim against muslim and what is shocking is that no arab country or leader is even whispering about it! worst still, sudan's president Bashir is getting support from his arab friends to fuel the Janjaweed. the US is getting very little out of sudan, so, although Bush has been very careful not to use the buzzword of the clinton administration: 'US interest', the policies are intrinsically the same. i was in uganda when clinton visited there more than a decade ago, he waived away the booing from the crowd in rwanda and apologised 'for not doing enough'. we shall hear many more apologies like this in years to come when there will be no 'black sudanese!'
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