The actions of the Khartoum government cannot be tolerated any longer. It is a brutal, repressive regime. Government-sponsored militias torch houses, loot property, and rape and murder with impunity. Civilian food production and supply lines are attacked. Livestock is destroyed.
International relief is obstructed.
In 1998, this strategy caused a famine in southern Sudan that endangered millions and killed tens of thousands. There should be a major effort on the part of the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union to bring an end to the war in Sudan. Peace has to be a priority of the Bush administration. Sudan is a litmus test for those who care about human rights, about civil rights, about religious persecution, and about hunger. The same amount of time, energy, and resources should be put into ending the war in Sudan that was put into bringing democracy to South Africa.