With Darfur in “free fall,” can Congress transcend partisanship?
Saturday, December 09, 2006 at 1:04 pm
- 8 Comments
US politicians on both sides of the aisle have spoken out about the civil war in the Darfur region of Sudan that has killed some 400,000 people and displaced two million more — including a unanimous House vote that defined the violence as “genocide.” But in the two years since Congress spoke in that unified voice, there’s been no major change in Darfur.
This week the UN’s departing humanitarian chief said Darfur is in “free fall” and outgoing UN head Kofi Annan decried the “shameful passivity” of world governments who have all but ignored this “new Rwanda.”
So: is American bipartisanship real in a legislative sense?
According to the Darfur Scorecard, run by the nonpartisan Genocide Intervention Network, the answer is a definitive “no.” It ranked every member of the House and Senate based on factors including votes on bills that could affect change in Darfur, from the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act to measures seeking to increase humanitarian aid. In both houses, those with the highest scores were overwhelmingly Democrats and those with the worst were Republicans.
Eight of 10 members who received F scores were Republican, and congressional members receiving failing grades, D through F, included 164 Republicans and only 14 Democrats. On the other hand, politicians with scores of A and A+ were also mostly Democrats: 120 Democrats versus 19 Republicans (independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders are also in this group).
In Minnesota, however, Senators Norm Coleman and Mark Dayton both scored As. In the House, Republicans Gil Gutknecht and John Kline bottomed the rankings with Ds. Topping the list were Betty McCollum with an A+ and Oberstar with an A.
Partisanship, of course, isn’t the issue: change for the civilians suffering in Darfur is. It’s been more than two years since George W. Bush announced that “The world cannot ignore the suffering of more than one million people” in Darfur.
As more than 1000 faith communities across the country are now observing a prayer weekend for Darfur, plan to check back here for Darfur news and analysis on whether the 110th Congress and its majority Democrats can do what the Republican House and Senate didn’t–bring relief to civilians in Darfur.
[Image via the American Refugee Committee's Darfur Project.]
8 Comments
Comment posted December 9, 2006 @ 3:40 pm
What do you have in mind sport? “110th Congress and its majority Democrats can do what the Republican House and Senate didn’t–bri[ng] relief to civilians in Darfur.”
The last disasterous humanitarian intervention headed up by Democrats (Somalia) resulted in Osama Bin Laden deciding that America was weak and ripe for attack…which in turn led directly to the 9/11 disaster.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wosama.html
“Things might have been different if the Soviet Union hadn’t invaded Afghanistan, if Saddam Hussein hadn’t stolen Kuwait, or if U.S. forces hadn’t retreated so hastily after a beating in Somalia, giving bin Laden the idea that Americans are cowards who can be defeated easily.”
I can scarcely wait to hear just what the Democrats have up their sleeves this time. If any group could make a bad foreign policy situation worse it is a room full of moronic Democrats.
Comment posted December 9, 2006 @ 3:55 pm
By the way… I dispute the Time author’s conclusion that Task Force Ranger took “a beating” in Mogadishu.
120 US soldiers squared off against thousands of heavily armed savages who used women as human shields and children as spotters. They got the men they had come to get, lost 18 of their contingent while the Habr Gidr losses have been estimiated at 500 KIA and over 1000 wounded.
The only “beating” our troops took was a the hands of William Jefferson Clinton, whose disgraceful retreat order shamed us all.
During interviews, the men of TFR and the Delta contingent all denounced the President’s decision and said the retreat was the only part of the action they really regretted.
Comment posted December 9, 2006 @ 6:16 pm
The last humanitarian effort? Somalia was the last Democrat-led humanitarian intervention? What about Kosovo, Swiffer?
Let’s not forget, the last humanitarian effort led by Republicans was Iraq, and that’s more disastrous than anyone (of either party) ever imagined.
Comment posted December 9, 2006 @ 9:40 am
What do you have in mind sport? “110th Congress and its majority Democrats can do what the Republican House and Senate didn't–bri[ng] relief to civilians in Darfur.”
The last disasterous humanitarian intervention headed up by Democrats (Somalia) resulted in Osama Bin Laden deciding that America was weak and ripe for attack…which in turn led directly to the 9/11 disaster.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wosama.html
“Things might have been different if the Soviet Union hadn't invaded Afghanistan, if Saddam Hussein hadn't stolen Kuwait, or if U.S. forces hadn't retreated so hastily after a beating in Somalia, giving bin Laden the idea that Americans are cowards who can be defeated easily.”
I can scarcely wait to hear just what the Democrats have up their sleeves this time. If any group could make a bad foreign policy situation worse it is a room full of moronic Democrats.
Comment posted December 9, 2006 @ 9:55 am
By the way… I dispute the Time author's conclusion that Task Force Ranger took “a beating” in Mogadishu.
120 US soldiers squared off against thousands of heavily armed savages who used women as human shields and children as spotters. They got the men they had come to get, lost 18 of their contingent while the Habr Gidr losses have been estimiated at 500 KIA and over 1000 wounded.
The only “beating” our troops took was a the hands of William Jefferson Clinton, whose disgraceful retreat order shamed us all.
During interviews, the men of TFR and the Delta contingent all denounced the President's decision and said the retreat was the only part of the action they really regretted.
Comment posted December 9, 2006 @ 12:16 pm
The last humanitarian effort? Somalia was the last Democrat-led humanitarian intervention? What about Kosovo, Swiffer?
Let's not forget, the last humanitarian effort led by Republicans was Iraq, and that's more disastrous than anyone (of either party) ever imagined.
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