That Other Forgotten Conflict

Since 2003, the international community has had a ready barometer with which to gauge its ability to tolerate the worst forms of brutality that man can inflict upon man. No weapon is off limits, as many women have been raped as a tactic of war. Bush said that what was going on was "genocide," that the U.S. and the world should do something to stop the violence. However, like almost everything else Bush has said or done while in the Oval Office, this, too, turned out to be purely for political reasons as words were not matched with follow-through. Darfur is still burning, using the hopes of inhabitants for peace as fuel for what has now turned from internal struggle has now blossomed like a twisted, black Lotus into full-scale regional conflict.

Tensions along the border have risen. The government of Chad, which bombed targets in Darfur over the weekend, stands ready to escalate the fighting even further, perhaps with ground forces. And, Sudanese troops attacked UN/AU peacekeepers, allegedly as a result of misidentification. The fighting stands to get even worse without urgent diplomatic, economic, and military assistance from the West.