After 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in the four years since violence began in Sudan, President Bush has ordered new economic sanctions in an attempt to pressure Sudan's government to end the genocide in Darfur.
Targeted are 30 government-sponsored companies, one company suspected of shipping arms to Darfur, and three individuals, Sudan's minister for humanitarian affairs, Ahmad Muhammed Harun, Sudan's head of military intelligence and security, Awad Ibn Auf, and the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, Khalil Ibrahim.
The president is also seeking a U.N. resolution that includes expanding the embargo on arms sales to Sudan and banning offensive Sudanese military flights over Darfur. Any resolution faces an uphill climb because of China's strong oil trade ties to the region.
Yes: 200,000 dead; 2.5 million displaced; four years; 31 companies; three people; a UN resolution that has a snowball's chance. As anemic as these steps are, the US remains at the forefront in taking action to end the bloodshed. And so it goes...
(HHTs: Coalition for Darfur)
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