The
Associated Press reports that the Sudanese government and the largest rebel group have agreed to sign a peace plan.
Despite initial resistance to U.N. peacekeepers replacing the African Union peacekeepers currently in Darfur now, Sudan acquiesced to the UN assuming control. The peace deal brings about a cease-fire, a disarmament of the militias, and incorporation of some of their fighters into the country's armed forces. Perhaps most importantly, civilians will also get a protection force, though how this will take shape was unclear.
Over 180,000 people were killed and some 2 million forced to flee in this largely ignored genocide. While it is impossible to expressly assert that the recent rally for Darfur in Washington had a direct impact, I can only imagine it helped. That rally featured Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), George Clooney, Olympic skater Joey Cheek and, Nobel laureate / Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
First, we obviously need to implement the peace plan. Second, I believe we need to get the Sudanese people back on their feet. But after that, I would like an investigation as to how we let it get to this point. How did we let thousands and thousands of innocent people suffer genocide before we acted?