The Washington Post reports:
Human rights groups and lawmakers are ratcheting up pressure on the Obama administration this week over its approach to ending violence in Sudan, saying the White House and the State Department are treading too cautiously in dealing with the government in Khartoum. A coalition of U.S.-based advocates focused on the Darfur region — where they say genocide is still being committed by the Sudanese government — sent a letter to President Obama on Monday demanding the replacement of retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration as special envoy to Sudan, arguing that his attempt to engage with the country’s rulers “is wrong and deadly.” “The good-intentioned yet soft approach of the General towards the Government of Sudan is abused and exploited by a regime that has continued to rule Sudan with fire and blood throughout the last twenty years,” read the letter from nine groups, including the Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization, and several individuals. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in response, “The President is extremely grateful for the work General Gration has done thus far, and for all the work he’ll do on this critical issue in the future.”
Apparently Vietor has been tasked with handing out gold stars and cookies to administration officials who excel at the appeasement and coddling of rogue states, human rights abusers, and war criminals. Per Arianna on Biden, maybe it’s time for Vietor to resign in protest against this administration’s inaction in the face of genocide in Darfur.
