Bush, Obama, and Darfur in the Blogosphere

On the eve of what will hopefully be a new era of American global engagement, here's a round-up of several conversations circulating through the blogosphere on opportunities to end the genocide in Darfur --- those missed by Bush, and open to Obama.

Nathan Hodge, writing for the Wired Blog Network, speculates on what shape a "more robust intervention on Darfur" might take:

"As a new administration takes office, the crisis in Darfur promises to be a key test for President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy team -- as well as for the new U.S. Africa Command.

In a confirmation hearing last week, Secretary of State designee Sen. Hillary Clinton promised a tough new line on Darfur including possible action to bolster UNAMID, the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission there. One of the possible options may be enforcement of a ‘no-fly zone' similar to those set up to protect humanitarian operations in Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. ‘We have spoken about other options, no-fly zones, other sanctions and sanctuaries, looking to deploy the UN/AU force to try to protect the refugees but also to repel the militias,' Clinton said."

David Sullivan quotes John Norris at the ENOUGH Project, who give a one-line summary of the Bush Administration's stance on Darfur:

"Bush cared enough about Darfur to declare it a genocide, but not enough to effectively respond."

(ENOUGH provides an interaction timeline, "All Bark, No Bite: The Bush Legacy on Darfur," that more than proves their point.)

Gerald LeMelle invokes a similar sentiment, writing in The Progressive:

"Invoking the hallowed "G" word hardly led to a change in U.S. policy."

He continues with a list of actions Obama should take in order to fulfill his commitment to make Darfur a "day one" priority.

Patrick Corrigan writes at Amnesty Blogs that the current moment is defined by more than relief over the end of the Bush-Cheney years:

"It could even be elation that there may soon be somebody occupying the White House who seems worthy of the office of the world's most powerful person and who has committed himself to restoring America's name abroad."