The time has come to back up our humanitarian leadership with an equal committment to joining with the other donor nations and our regional allies in a renewed political push for a just and lasting peace in Sudan. We of course share a responsibility to respond generously and urgently to Sudan's plight. Our values dictate that we reject the cynical notion of some critics that washing our hands of this situation and simply letting people die is any kind of a solution. The grain-purchase initiative that President Clinton announced last week may help some American farmers significantly, but it will be the difference between life and death for hundreds of thousands of people facing starvation and malnutrition. In Sudan, although our donation will not arrive for months to come, it will be welcome relief, because war has prevented planting throughout much of this fertile region and so food shortages will continue even after the fall harvest.
Resources are only part of the problem.
Equally challenging for aid agencies has been securing consistent access to populations in need, and overcoming the immense logistical obstacles to mounting a response of this scale in an area as vast and remote as southern Sudan. The cease-fire now in effect in some areas will help some. But we should give the United Nations Operation Lifeline Sudan the support it needs to maximize this window of opportunity. We also should consider an immediate loan of cargo planes to Operation Lifeline Sudan. Our laws permit such action, and the urgency of this crisis certainly warrants it.