After attending the Darfur symposium on Wednesday I was appalled by the atrocities that are being committed on a daily basis in Sudan. But what really angered me was the continued inaction on the part of the United States and the rest of the international community on this issue. President Bush spoke in his Inaugural Address about spreading freedom and liberty throughout the world.
If ever there was a time to give these words some concrete meaning, the time is now. The people of Darfur are becoming the victims of a systematic campaign of displacement, rape and murder by the Janjaweed militias that are supported by the Sudanese government. President Bush should be praised for labeling the atrocities in the Sudan as genocide, but because we refuse to act to put any kind of force behind our rhetoric, the genocide continues.
As a result of the continued inaction on the part of our government and the international community, we are allowing 10,000 Darfurians to be killed on a monthly basis. In this day and age after we have witnessed the horrors of Armenia, the Holocaust and Rwanda, atrocities like this should be unacceptable. Despite the horrific events that have already occurred, there is still an opportunity for Americans to raise ourselves to the challenge and bring a peaceful settlement to the situation in the Sudan.
We must all speak out as Americans, as Catholics, as supporters of freedom and justice, as Republicans and as Democrats, as people of good will; we must speak with one voice and demand action on behalf of the Darfurians who are in dire need of our assistance.
Andrew Sullivan
sophomore
Alumni Hall
Feb. 24
