John Kerry 's position on

Darfur (in Sudan): The Arab government armed militias to raid the Africans who live in this region. Ten thousand people die each day in the refugee camps that house over one million people who fled their homes. The UN passed a resolution that ordered Sudan's government to cooperate with African Union monitoring forces, but the resolution did not explicitly threaten sanctions (The UN's hollow threat, The Economist, September 20, 2004)

Description of candidate's position: Kerry labeled the Darfur crisis as "genocide," and would lead the UN Security Council to impose tough sanctions on Sudan, freezing the government's assets, outlawing arms sales and the purchase of Sudanese oil. Kerry would provide the UN with the $531 million required to address the humanitarian crisis and give the African Union funding and logistical support in its peacekeeping mission. Link.

Quotation from the candidate: "In April, I first called upon President Bush to show the compassion and moral leadership that is our nation's hallmark by taking urgent action to end the genocide in Darfur. Since then, I have repeatedly made the same plea. In the intervening months, thousands more innocents have died. This is a crucial moment of reckoning. This time, let's place the U.S. on the right side of history." Link.

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: The Center for American Progress (CAP) is "a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all." The CAP labels the Darfur crisis as "genocide" and its policy recommendation closely parallels Kerry's: "The U.N. Security Council should impose multilateral sanctions and grant the authority now for members to intervene militarily if Khartoum continues to stall. The Bush administration and international community must do everything possible to force the Sudanese government to halt the killing; disarm the militia; allow unimpeded access for humanitarian workers and supplies; and undertake political negotiations aimed at ending the crisis." Link.

Negative: The Cato Institute (CI), a "non-profit public policy research foundation," takes an opposing view. Link. The CI frowns on "promiscuous U.S. interventions" and thinks that "calls to apply targeted multilateral sanctions and visa bans will do nothing to stop the killing." Instead, the CI believes that "neighboring states such as Egypt, Chad, and Kenya recognize that stabilizing Darfur is in their interest. The United States should encourage those states to clean up their own backyard, which they can and should do." If troops are necessary, the EU should provide them because "Our armed forces have enough on their plate." Link.

Comparison: John Kerry has 15 speeches mentioning Darfur on his website. Bush has three. They both believe that it is a problem, but Kerry labeled it genocide long before Bush did. Kerry has stated that he will make sure that an international peacekeeping unit is deployed; Bush has made no such commitment. Both of the candidates acknowledge the serious nature of the situation and both wanted the UN to pass a tougher resolution. The Security Council certainly disappointed both candidates by not getting tough on the Sudanese government.

Link to George Bush's Darfur page.