One place where the U.S. can do some good.

last updated 8 January 2015

France

Editorial

Just look at what the Americans can do when properly motivated, said Paris’ Le Monde in an editorial. Ten months of negotiations led by the African Union failed to produce peace in Sudan’s battered Darfur region. Once U.S. envoy Robert Zoellick arrived on the scene, though, he took a mere five days to persuade the largest of the region’s three rebel factions to sign a peace accord. Why the sudden American involvement? Simple. With civilian corpses piling up in Iraq, the U.S. can’t afford to “be held responsible for yet another humanitarian disaster.” After the Bush administration labeled the ethnic cleansing of black villagers by Arab militias “genocide,” it had to act. A 15,000-strong demonstration in Washington a few weeks ago put even more pressure on Bush to prevent “a new Rwanda.” The strongest spur to U.S. action, of course, was most likely the recent spread of fighting to neighboring Chad, “where the U.S. has oil interests.” Whatever the motive, the important thing now is to keep the U.S. involved. There are two other rebel groups that have yet to stop fighting, and the Sudanese government must be watched and pressured so that it doesn’t support the militias. Only the sustained commitment of powerful actors can “transform this newborn hope into a lasting peace for Darfur.”