"Save Darfur" Must Save Itself

In fact, there now appears to be internal discord within the administration over how to best bring about cooperation from Khartoum, the hub from which Sudan's violence emanates. It seems that the president's special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, is taking a conciliatory line toward Bashir, going as far as to declare last month that what we now see in Sudan is the "remnants of genocide." Just days earlier, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, had said the opposite, accusing the Sudanese leadership of ongoing genocide in Darfur and citing the "urgency and complexity of the overall situation."

This kind of muddled interplay might normally be forgiven early in a new administration. In the case of Sudan, however, it plays directly into Bashir's hands. Since his March indictment by the ICC, Bashir has expertly capitalized on the lack of a focused, comprehensive effort by the international community to advance his strategy of delay, deny, divide, and detract.

Enough is enough. If there is agreement on anything within the Darfur movement, it is that Obama must start living up to his promises of leading a bolder path forward in Sudan. Both Bashir's recent expulsion of humanitarian aid groups upon which millions depend for basic survival and the actions of his government to prevent the Mandate Darfur conference scheduled for last month, which was to bring together Sudanese civil society groups as part of the peace process, are unacceptable behaviors by any standard. Yet the United States and other countries remained nearly silent.

It's time to start speaking up. The White House must begin shaping a new international road map that provides a framework for sustainable peace in Sudan. The road map should be grounded in existing commitments, including the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the various existing Darfur commitments. It must also set measurable milestones and hold accountable Khartoum for its decisions and actions. The way forward must include Sudan's key geopolitical partners, principally China and Russia. Both can offer enticing carrots to Khartoum and apply immediate pressure in the face of noncooperation. Peace and stability in Sudan is in these states' interests, either for economic or political reasons. There is room for cooperation -- if the U.S. government signals that this discussion is a priority.

Exercising the political will necessary to craft a road map for lasting peace in Sudan will not come easily, nor will success. And that is precisely why the Darfur movement is needed now more than ever. Will it help apply immediate and meaningful pressure to those in power, at home and abroad, and ensure meaningful action to bring peace to the people of Sudan at this critical juncture? Ultimately, history may judge the Darfur movement not on the last five years, but on the next 18 months. With deadlines in Sudan looming -- and both the north and south rearming themselves for civil war -- it seems likely that the epitaph of the Darfur movement is far from written.

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