Test Case for United Nations...and for All of Us

If what's going on in the Darfur region of Sudan isn't genocide, then what is?

Genocide is any sustained effort by one group of people to exterminate another population owing to religion, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, nationality, or some other identifying attribute. It's what the Nazis undertook against the Jews. More recently, it's been tried by other groups under the banner of ethnic cleansing.

Today, terrorists with the blessing of the Sudanese government are engaged in genocide in the Darfur region of that country.

But a UN group, charged with looking into what's been going on in Darfur, while describing it as serious, has fallen short of labeling it as genocide, effectively sitting on its hands while thousands and thousands are butchered.

Representative Frank Wolf, is quoted in the above article as saying:

"The United Nations has failed over and over to prevent genocide," said Wolf, who heads the House of Representatives subcommittee that approves US payments to the world body.

"If in the year 2005 the Security Council cannot deal with genocide, ... I believe it's fair to ask what purpose is the United Nations serving in the 21st century," he said.

This definitely is an important test case for the UN and for all of us.

One of the best sites for Darfur/Sudan information can be found here.