The G Word in Darfur
It's been over two months since I returned from Yad Vashem, inspired to do something about the genocide in Darfur. But I have a written my congressmen? No.
This terrific blog posting woke me up again. Improbably, Jane Wells wittily manages to use gallows humor to talk about the "g" word, when the rest of us would rather be discussing the "g spot."
Last week in The New York Times Nicholas Kristof urged “ordinary readers to push for moves to end this genocide” reminding us that Senator Paul Simon said that if only 100 people had written to their Congressional district about the Rwandan genocide we might have stopped it.
Last weekend former Cpt. Steidle, speaking about this genocide at Harvard asked for only ONE member of the audience to write to their Congressman, imploring that one person CAN make a difference.
Last summer one mother took a stand on Iraq in Crawford Texas and got he whole world to notice.I had been thinking I must stop banging on about the genocide in Darfur, and get on with ‘real’ work. Hearing former Cpt. Steidle, and reflecting on what one marine, one mother, one voice, one more letter, one vote can do, I decided to keep on blogging, at least until this genocide is over and there are as many Google links to the greatest crime against humanity as there are to female sexual pleasure (and believe me I am all for that!)
Well, there's a challenge. Perhaps a simple phone call is easier than writing a letter. Here's how to make the call. Let me know if you do, and how it went. It will keep me accountable.
Check out the i-ACT blog and daily webcasts of 21-day direct visibility project from Darfur. The project has 4 days to go.
posted by weltatem @ 7:42 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I like letters better than making a call. I sent an email to both Senator Boxer and Feinstein asking them to make sure that $50 million for African Union peacekeeping troops in Darfur is included in the Defense Appropriations conference report. What kind of a Libertarian am I?!
The kind I love?
I just sent my letters via the link above. I don't mind using a version of a form letter, because it's volume that matters, not content. Here's the reply I recevied back from the site, to pass along to others. I don't really believe in spamming people with emails like this, so I'll post it here, where it's more appropriate.
"I thought you would want to know that I just sent a letter to President Bush, my senators and my congressional representative regarding my support of the Darfur Peace & Accountability Act. I believe you will also be interesting in expressing your support of this legislation. I hope that you will take a look at www.savedarfur.org and take action too. These atrocities will stop when President Bush and our national leaders understands that Americans care about this issue."
okay, I've sent off emails to both Kennedy & Kerry.. you're going to make me into an activist whether I like it or not :)
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Congress rejected U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's impassioned appeal to provide $50 million for African troops trying to keep peace in Sudan's Darfur region, the State Department said on Monday.
U.S. funding for about 6,000 African Union peacekeepers ends this year and the State Department is concerned that violence in Darfur will only get worse if more money is not found to keep the mission going.
Still, despite the rejection by a Congress under pressure to keep spending down, the U.S. State Department said it would seek to find the money from other foreign aid programs for the Darfur mission.
"We are frustrated and disappointed. The AU plays an important role in Darfur," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"We will work to reprogram existing funds," he added. "The funding problem is not insurmountable."
In letters sent last week to the heads of appropriations committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Rice wrote: "We are in critical need of funding to continue this mission at a robust level into 2006."
"Taking immediate action to meet this unanticipated expense is of the highest priority," she added.
The $50 million would have represented about one-third of the monthly cost for the peacekeepers. The European Union is responsible for most of the remainder.
The State Department had sought to convince Congress it needed to follow through on its vocal concern for the people of Darfur and provide additional funding for the peacekeepers.
How can we ever explain this to our grandchildren? "No, we just didn't have the money to stop the genocide in Darfur, because of the budget deficit. Yes, most of the deficit was due to tax cuts for the very wealthy."
This notion is stomach-churning. Is nobody awake in America?
Post a Comment
<< Home