Bush Approves Airlift for Darfur, Hadley Bites, Kristof Bites Back (What a Day)

by Michelle . · 2009-01-05 16:50:00 UTC
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Two things happened today that you should know about:

1.      President Bush authorized an immediate American airlift of equipment to UNAMID peacekeepers in Darfur. In a word: Fantastic. (Seriously.)

2.      National Security Advisors Stephen Hadley issued a statement criticizing Nicholas Kristof in a tone reminiscent of a wounded ego on a fool's errand.

Bush's unexpected commitment came after a meeting this morning with Salva Kiir, the president of the semi-autonomous South Sudan. (One can only wonder how much time was spent discussing his rather impressive hat.)

I'm not sure how often columnists---even the most influential ones---get such mention in official Executive Branch statements, but Hadley singles Kristof out:

"Today's announcement is further evidence that Nicholas Kristof's portrayal last week of this Administration's response to the genocide in Darfur (A New Chance for Darfur, December 28, 2008) was inaccurate. President Bush has been committed to resolving the crisis there since the United States first labeled it genocide in 2004."

Kristof's response is one for the books. A snippet:

"Look, I'm delighted that the White House is, belatedly, organizing this airlift. It sure smells of a desperate effort to burnish the administration's legacy on Darfur, but better late than never. This particular step is one that the White House and Pentagon have resisted for months, so my hunch is that President Bush finally weighed in after my column in question or that Hadley became concerned about his own reputation on this matter."

Kristof goes on to discuss what he sees as Bush's genuine interest in Darfur, and once again points to Hadley and Condoleezza Rice as the ones who reined him in.

But regardless of the motivation, the airlift is, as they say, kind of a big deal. As Twitter makes brevity a new form of art, Save Darfur's tweet on the matter sums it up quite nicely, I think:

"Airlift is important b/c helps UNAMID deploy, provide relief to suffering people of Darfur (currently out of reach b/c security concerns)"

And that's what it all comes down to.

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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