I withheld comment on the Andrew Natsios Darfur piece in Sunday's Post because I read that crusading force for good (and good hair) John Prendergast would be responding forthwith. The dialogue is worth checking out.

The underlying theme, which Prendergast deals with directly, is the legacy of George W. Bush as a president who sat through the 21st century's first genocide. In the prism of Prendergast's analysis, Natsios comes across as trying to lower the bar so it can seem like things beyond the control of the United States were the reason stronger action wasn't possible by President Bush.

Prendergast notes a bunch of these details, calling out some of Natsios's mitigating factors as bogus. Perhaps most telling is that faux evenhandedness that Prendergast detects in what Natsios wrote and what the State Department has argued. He argues that treating rebel groups rising up against a genocide and the perpetrators of that genocide as equal plays directly into Khartoum's hands. Think about it. If there is no punishment for these actions, why would they stop? Prendergast notes that this is how Sudan waged its war in the south for two decades.

Unfortunately, the scourge of the Darfur movement is that the ask is weak, niche, or complicated. I'll let Prendergast explain what he wants President Bush to do:

There are two main areas he could emphasize, beyond existing efforts to get a U.N.-led protection force deployed to Darfur. First, Bush should give Ambassador Richard Williamson, the new envoy to Sudan, whatever he needs to help breathe new life into Sudan's peace efforts, including a full-time team based in the region and renewed efforts to engage the influential Chinese in advance of the Olympics.

Second, Bush should lead international efforts to impose a cost for perpetrating genocide and obstructing help. The United States should press in the U.N. Security Council for targeted economic sanctions against responsible Sudanese officials, engage the European Union to ban euro-based Sudanese oil transactions, and share intelligence with the International Criminal Court to accelerate indictments of Sudanese officials most responsible for continuing violence.

Prendergast says Bush has 11 months. Good luck with that.
Photo of John Prendergast courtesy of Flickr user eschipul.