Will Obama Save The Marriage?

When I came home this evening (from a planning meeting for a Darfur-related event: Art for Darfur), I received the exciting news that President Obama is finally appointing a Special Envoy for Sudan, retired Air Force General Scott Gration.

As one of many thousands who have been demanding since Janurary 20th that Obama appoint a special envoy, I am very pleased that we at least have a name. With the escalated crisis brought upon the expulsion of humanitarian aide groups by President Bashir, the envoy is needed more than ever to hopefully bring the long nightmare to an end.

As quoted in the New York Times, Jerry Fowler of Save Darfur Coalition said, “Why is there a disconnect? We need presidential engagement and we need it now.”

As you saw in my last blog post, I argued that both pro-Obamas and otherwise in the anti-genocide movement should take off the gloves and put the squeeze on our officials like we had attempted to when President Bush was in office. I believe the increases outcry of Sudan activists over the last two weeks (since the ICC indictment) helped bringing about this long awaited appointment.

The question remains though, Will Obama Save the "Marriage?" If the honeymoon is already over due to the lateness and weakness of the adminstration's response, does this appointment mark the beginning of our government salvaging itself from months of relative neglect on Sudan or is this simply a token measure in response of increasing pressure by activists?

Regardless of the answer, I echo my previous thoughts. We must continue to mount pressure on our officials including President Obama to ensure an appropriately robust policy on Sudan that goes beyond managing the situation and toward finally sustainable solutions for peace in Darfur and all of Sudan. This includes insuring that General Gration does not suffer from the same defecits as previous envoys Rich Williamson and Andrew Natsios. Gration NEEDS to have adequate staff and the ear of the President and Secretary Clinton in order to succede in his mission.

We must continue keeping Obama accountable so that he can keep his promises regarding Darfur. You can find a complete lists of asks for the Administration and Congress created by STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition here: http://standnow.org/campaigns/dfd1/inform/asking

Let's keep up the calls, letters, op-eds and events. This news is worth celebrating, but we cannot get complacent until there is peace.

Obama's Anti-Genocide Honeymoon Is Over

While anti-genocide work has been a very bi-partisan and non-partisan endeavor essentially from day one and all anti-genocide advocacy organizations are by design non-partisan, there was and continues to be overwhelming support for President Obama from anti-genocide activists nearly from early on in his campaign. As a senator, President Obama used his assignment in the Foreign Service committee to sponsor and support a number of pieces of legislation aimed at bringing the crisis in Darfur to an end. His commitment to peace in Sudan earned him a consistent A+ Darfur Score by the Genocide Intervention Network and a shared prologue to the New York Times Bestseller, Not On Our Watch with Senator Sam Brownback.

During his time as senator into his campaign and now into his administration, Obama reinforced his anti-genocide credentials by receiving advice from and hiring many friends of the anti-genocide movement. John Prendergast, co-author of the previously mentioned book and chair of the ENOUGH Project, served as a foreign policy advisor to candidate Obama. US Ambassador to the United Nations during her confirmation and for years before has passionately spoken about her regrets over Rwanda and her determination to not repeat mistakes. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke passionately regarding Darfur on the campaign trail and was a consistent champion of Darfur along with Obama in the Senate. Finally, Samantha Power, has been officially brought back into the Obama camp after resigning from his campaign for her gaffe by calling Clinton a “monster”. Power wrote American and the Problem Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, which has been utilized as a critical resource with countless insights for the current anti-genocide movement.

I, for one, have been one of the most passionate Barack Obama supporters since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I felt he would one day run for president and win and that he was a truly genuine politician with an incredible worldview which I felt was in sync with mine. Despite all that, it pains me to say that I believe Obama’s honeymoon period with the anti-genocide movement is over. I’ll give two reasons:

1. Where’s our envoy?

Last Tuesday, February 23rd, one of the best known advocates for peace in Darfur actor George Clooney met with President Obama after returning from a trip to the Chad/Darfur border. After the meeting Clooney spoke to the press with overall positive remarks including that reassurances were made that a US Special Envoy for Sudan would be appointed soon.

A week and a half later, neither the White House or the State Department have definitively confirmed that this promise will be kept in a timely manner. I, nor anyone in the anti-genocide movement, can deny the importance of the large scale policy reviews going on at the State Department. Additionally it is hard to argue that special envoys for the middle east, Afghanistan and elsewhere were/are of critical importance. But an ongoing genocide that has cost the lives of 400,000+ and has captured the outrage of many tens of thousands US citizens should be a priority of the administration and specifically the State Department. I am shocked that a sympathetic president who like his predecessor clearly wants to end the genocide has let his administration act so slowly to appoint someone for such a critical post.

2. What does “exercising restraint” mean?

The need for a US Special Envoy for Sudan was critical before the news out of the International Criminal Court this week. With the release of a warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his retaliation of revoking humanitarian organizations’ licenses, a high level diplomat with sufficient resources to push for peace in Sudan is an even more urgent need than ever before. Despite this we still have no mention of when such an envoy might be appointed or who the envoy might be.

What troubles me more, though, is the continued weak responses coming out of the White House and State Department in light of developments such as the ones this week. The State Department responded to the ICC announcement by urging restraint from all sides. While I would hope the Sudanese Government would show restraint in their campaign of genocide, I cannot shake the question, how does a government who commits genocide really show restraint?

The boldest action or statement yet was that a meeting at the White House with State Department officials and aid groups concerned with the humanitarian organizations being expelled from Sudan. While I commend the Administration and State for participating in the conversation, where is the action? At the very least where is the strong condemnation of the Sudanese government’s horrendous action?
-----

The sticking point is that while the United States faces many unprecedented challenges and the Obama Administration has to deal with practically all of them, a few million Sudanese civilians will be neglected by their government, targeted for genocide and now will go without humanitarian aide out of a corrupt regime’s unwillingness to negotiate peace or respect justice. And our government’s response is a whisper. Not action, not even a shout, but a whisper.

To President Obama, we expected more.

To my anti-genocide advocates both pro-Obama and others, we should not hesitate to hold this President’s feet to the fire like we attempted to do for President Bush.

Sympathetic thoughts and feelings will not end genocide, Obama must do more and we must demand more.

Thoughts and Actions RE: ICC Warrant for Bashir 2

I wanted to finish the previous blog before starting this one. As I was thinking up what I wanted to say, a very troubling development came to my attention. As reported by Reuters:

“Sudan revoked the licences of Oxfam and at least five other aid groups on Wednesday after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, aid officials said.

The move -- which effectively freezes the agencies' work -- was the first concrete sign of repercussions against international groups after the global court indicted Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Sudanese government officials have in the past threatened to take action against Darfur-based aid groups they say are passing evidence on to the global court's prosecutor -- accusations the agencies deny.

Oxfam said Sudanese authorities had revoked its license to operate in north Sudan, although it had not been given a reason for the order and it was not clear whether staff would be expelled.

"This is going to have a devastating effect on hundreds of thousand of people," said Oxfam spokesman Alun McDonald. "We work with 600,000 people in north Sudan, 400,000 of them in Darfur. It is of the utmost importance the government agrees to let us continue that work."

I’m sure my outrage from these developments spilled over to my previous entry. The ICC stopped short of covering the crime of genocide in their warrant for Bashir’s arrest. After this development, I find it hard that skeptics can believe this is simply a civil war and that genocide is an exaggeration. In response to a virtually unenforceable warrant for his arrest, Bashir has put hundreds of thousands, if not a millions more lives in jeopardy for a risky gamble to save his own hide.

The international community must NOT blink now. Bashir is betting in order to reestablish humanitarian aid, we will defer the warrant against him. In the lead up to today’s announcement many Darfuris expressed they knew the dangers of ICC action against Bashir, but still urged for justice to be served. They knew the consequences and as I started below, this case against Bashir gives us an opportunity to bring about peace AND justice in Sudan. This is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is the only one that can lead to long term peace and stability in Darfur and all of Sudan.

What the international community SHOULD do is call this bloody bluff. We must continue pushing for justice and only support deferring the warrant for true signs of peace as articulated in Article 16 of the Rome Statute. Anything less is unacceptable. If we blink now, we will return to the status quo of genocide and displacement in Darfur.

Stronger words and actions including condemnations of Bashir’s latest move, a renewed effort to fully deploy UNAMID and an invigorated peace process are the only ways forward and as I stated before, should be the only possible saving grace for Bashir.

I am still hoping to replace or add onto my list of possible actions, but again I urge that we push for the following:

1. A strong statement from one or all President Obama, US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and/or Secretary of State Clinton repeating in unequivocal terms our support of the ICC investigation, the peace process and UNAMID’s peacekeeping operation.

2. Along with this statement or immediately following it the US must being the process of appointing a special envoy to Sudan with the appropriate support and staff necessary to manage the current situation and bring about the peace process to end the genocide.

3. A statement by Secretary Gates or the Defense Department either publicly or to congress about the status of the Missing Assets Taskforce, a taskforce within the DOD to work with allies on finding helicopters for UNAMID. These efforts must reinvigorated as soon as possible.

4. Congress should pass resolutions echoing the above efforts. Members of congress, especially those on the appropriate committees, should urge Secretaries Clinton and Gates to take the prescribed actions. Once an envoy is appointed, confirmation should happen as quickly as possible.

5. Any additional sanctions that can be made on members of the National Congress Party, especially those with ICC warrants must be issued until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

6. Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice should immediately push for additional multilateral sanctions until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

Call your representative, senators, the White House and/or State Department immediately. You can reach all theseoffices by calling 1-800-GENOCIDE ( 800-436-6243). You can also find mailing addresses for your elected officials at www.congress.org.

Thoughts and Actions RE: ICC Warrant for Bashir

As I writing this, developments keep breaking so if the tone shifts constantly, I apologize, but I am constantly going between outrage and concern over this situation. As many of you have read or seen this morning, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity. My first reaction is of joy that international justice is finally being served that Bashir will be further made a pariah for the crimes he has committed against the people of Darfur. Furthermore as many experts, including the ENOUGH Project’s John Prendergast and Omer Ismail, point out that justice while important on its own can also be used as leverage to force Bashir’s National Congress Party to seriously engage in peace talks to bring an end to the violence.

Immediately, though, I feel concerned that we will again miss our opportunity to change the tide in Sudan. In July of last year, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced he had submitted a request to the ICC judges for a warrant against Mr. Bashir, the international community and specifically the US issued weak statements of support for justice while the African Union spearheaded an effort to block justice exploiting article 16 of the Rome Statute expressing that the Security Council could defer an investigation for the cause of peace. While no such deferral occurred, the counter-response again was weak and slow.

Sudan expert Alex de Waal told the BBC the indictment is "pretty toothless" as the ICC does not have a police force. I fear that de Waal will be proven right if we continue to be slow to act as an international community. He is correct in saying that the ICC is toothless because a lack of a police force, but I would argue that we can give the ICC teeth by following its actions with strong words and actions of our own. Mr. Bashir in the past has seemed primarily concerned with two goals, bringing greater legitimacy to his regime through normalization with the United States and development through oil primarily through trade with China among other partners. Bold statements and actions by the United States would encourage other nations to follow suit and to further brand the National Congress Party government a rogue government that should be made into an international pariah.

Now is the time to renew our commitment to peace, protection and justice in Sudan. We must push for greater efforts to ensure full deployment of the United Nations African Union hybrid peacekeeping force (UNAMID) including needed tactical helicopters. In addition we must put whatever pressure possible, economic, political and perhaps even military on the President Bashir to keep humanitarian operations in Darfur to ensure the survival of millions of Darfuris. Finally, the US needs to play a more robust role through a special envoy to reinvigorating a peace process that will eventually bring the genocide to an end and should be Mr. Bashir’s only possible saving grace.

Therefore I suggest the following actions should be taken as soon possible: (I have not yet seen any action alerts by the US-based advocacy organizations. As soon as they are, I will either add them to the list or replace my list with theirs.)

1. A strong statement from one or all President Obama, US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and/or Secretary of State Clinton repeating in unequivocal terms our support of the ICC investigation, the peace process and UNAMID’s peacekeeping operation.

2. Along with this statement or immediately following it the US must being the process of appointing a special envoy to Sudan with the appropriate support and staff necessary to manage the current situation and bring about the peace process to end the genocide.

3. A statement by Secretary Gates or the Defense Department either publicly or to congress about the status of the Missing Assets Taskforce, a taskforce within the DOD to work with allies on finding helicopters for UNAMID. These efforts must reinvigorated as soon as possible.

4. Congress should pass resolutions echoing the above efforts. Members of congress, especially those on the appropriate committees, should urge Secretaries Clinton and Gates to take the prescribed actions. Once an envoy is appointed, confirmation should happen as quickly as possible.

5. Any additional sanctions that can be made on members of the National Congress Party, especially those with ICC warrants must be issued until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

6. Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice should immediately push for additional multilateral sanctions until humanitarian aid is fully restored.

I hope someone more qualified steps up soon to replace or improve this list, but until I urge you to help lay the ground work and call your representative, senators, the White House and/or State Department immediately. You can reach all these offices by calling 1-800-GENOCIDE (800-436-6243). You can also find mailing addresses for your elected officials at www.congress.org.

Our officials must be overwhelmed by our response and join in our outrage over this genocide. Please act now.

To GOP Governors: Don't Give Your Constituents a Raw Deal

As part of the New Deal, under the Works Progress Administration, a controversial program known as the Federal Writers Project was created. At its height the Federal Writers Project employed 6,686 writers. Many considered this to be a waste of federal funds desperately needed in other areas of the economy. Out of this project, though, a great wealth of American folklore was captured in writing for the first time and many great writers of the twentieth century found their own voice. More importantly, the WPA and its programs such as the Federal Writers Project kept hundreds of thousands of Americans employed during a time where steady employment was a desperate need for many Americans.

Over the weekend at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, a handful of GOP governors continued to assert their intention to fight over stimulus spending slated to be given to their state and are claiming they will not accept many provisions of the bill. I cannot help, but think about the WPA and Federal Writers Project when I hear such claims. For I believe you can put much of thinking over the stimulus plan into two schools of thought. The first supported mostly by Democrats, progressives and some moderate Republicans such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger believe the stimulus plan will work by giving relief to many Americans, build infrastructure and jump start our economy. The other camps comprised mostly of conservative Republicans represented by the rising star Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana believe that the stimulus plan will not work, is wasteful and places too cumbersome of a burden on state and local governments to comply with federal law.

The most optimistic estimates put us on the path of recovery early next year. Whether it is the stimulus, monetary policy or economic self-correction it appears more than likely things will continue to get worse over the next few months or year before they get better. During this coming year state budgets will continue to plummet into the red like we have seen recently in California and Kansas in order to keep up with raising unemployment and Americans even in the most insulated states will continue to lose their jobs. Suppose the second camp is right and the stimulus will not fix the economy. The stimulus though will certainly put hundreds of thousand people, if not more, to work almost immediately in order to build infrastructure and research green technology. In addition bill provisions will keep unemployment and other federally mandated, state funded services going.

Regardless of which camp you or your governor fall under, the need for relief and at least interim employment measures is clear. New Deal projects such as the WPA are believed by many to have helped pull the United States out of the Great Depression. Others believe these programs had no real effect on our economy as a whole and World War II alone was responsible for pulling us out of the Depression. Either way it is indisputable that New Deal programs provided relief to many who needed it and allowed countless families to survive the Depression.

GOP governors need to learn the lessons of the New Deal. The stimulus package may have flaws and perhaps the view that it will not work is correct. As the economy worsens and states hemorrhage money, political ideology must be couched and action must be taken. Regardless if GOP governors take issue with the bill, they have the responsibility to accept the funds on behalf of all the recently unemployed and struggling citizens of their state. Let your political and ideological concerns lead you to ensure this money is spent effectively in your states, but do not let politics stand between economic relief (and perhaps recovery) and your constituents.

My Message to the STAND Leadership Team

I made this for the STAND Leadership Team, but everyone is more than welcome to see it. While I made it with that collective group in mind, I feel this way about practically all my friends in the anti-genocide movement and even many of those outside of it. I included my "transcript" but I didn't follow it strictly.

I just got an e-mail from Charlotte and it almost brought me to tears. I think it was notes from our the last o-team call I was on, it was o-team answers to what they like about me. I have been meaning to make a video for all my STAND friends and like many things I have put it off over the last 2 months. After reading this e-mail, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer.

I love you all more than you will ever know. I mentioned this at the NSC, but after my father passed away when I was 11, it always felt like I was searching for a home and this search for a second family was always behind my decision to join an organization. In college I began to join causes and do things purely out of passion for the objective.

Even though I came to STAND out of my desire to grow as a member of this movement and to have biggest impact I could in order to help end genocide, I was greeted by the warmest, most intelligent and most passionate group of my peers I think I could ever have met outside of my home chapter. You truly have become that second family I have always consciously or subconsciously looked for.

I have been blessed with the insanity of activism and because of it I have had the opportunity to organize people, plan events, raise money and advocate for causes in the past. While I had a lot left to learn and still do, when I joined STAND I had already gained a lot of invaluable experiences. STAND provided me with so much more than how to plan a successful event or lobby legislators, it provided me with a cause that I can own and that owns me. The work I did in high school and freshman year was important and I still feel a lot of passion for those causes, fighting genocide has made me feel far more empowered and fulfilled than I could ever imagine being. I know I don’t have to explain too much that fighting genocide isn’t just something I feel is important in my heart or rationalize as necessary in my mind, but a synthesis of those two urges.

I think for that reason, no matter how awkward I can be and how short of time I’ve known most of you, that I feel so strongly connected to all of you. STAND might be where we come to help end suffering in Darfur, but I believe with all of myself that STAND is where many end up finding their home. I was and would be a committed activist, but STAND has allowed me to grow up and focus my activism.

I’m rambling and eventhough I typed this out, I’m having trouble expressing what I want to express. All I can do is say thank you to all of you for becoming my friend and working together on this cause we all care deeply about. Many of you came before me and laid the groundwork, welcomed me warmly and helped retool me for this cause. Others of you joined at about the same time or after me. Thank you for being my support, my family and colleagues in this struggle. We all get frustrated, but I know together we can keep it up and that our efforts are helping, will help and will ultimately be successful.

I’ve kept in contact with most of you, but please please please do not let us venture too far away from one another. I will do my best to keep on pestering you guys from my g-chat addiction. We’ve done some amazing things together and regardless of where all end up, I’m sure our connection will continue to be one that brings about joy to one another and ideas that will change the world.

New Year's Resolutions

It seems a lot of people are posting their resolutions online. I decided I'll jump on the bandwagon in hopes that putting these out publicly will help me keep them longer. If anyone wants to team up on any of these let me know:

1. Get a job. This one isn't really a resolution, more like a necessity.
2. Call 1-800-GENOCIDE more. I always want to do more to help end genocide and I also hate not practicing what I preach. I want to call 1-800-GENOCIDE at least once a week. I really hope some people join me on this one. It's quick, easy and really helpful.
   
3. Exercise. I thought I should include a classic, but hopefully moving back to Plano will help me with this one. For almost 6 months I've been claiming I would do this "Couch to 5k" program that takes 9 weeks. So I think I'll aim to run a 5k by the end of April.
4. Update my blog more. I enjoy writing and I think it is a good creative outlet for me. I'm going to be cautious with this resolution though, I think I'll aim for one post a month.
5. Read 100 pages a week. I love reading, but now that I don't have to read 50-100+ pages a night for school it has been hard getting motivated. So much to read, so little time. I should easily be able to do 100 pages a week.
6. Study for the GRE. Grad school is definitely in my future and I might start as early as Spring 2010. Therefore I'm going to aim to study for the GRE at least two hours a week until I take it.
7. Learn to cook 5 Indian dishes. I wanted a fun one that I would feel fairly confident in accomplishing. Although it was 2008, I tried one last night so that already brings me down to 4 left.
   

I think that's it for now. Since updating my blog is one of those, I may provide some update about these. Maybe not. We'll see. I'd love to hear your thoughts!