Barack Obama/Podcasts

“ The few thousand African Union troops who have been placed in Darfur are primarily providing witness to some of the atrocities that are taking place there, but they don't have clear rules of engagement, they are under-armed, under-trained, they don't really provide the sort of protective force that would be needed to not only ensure that existing villages aren't ravaged by the Janjaweeds, but more importantly, that the 2 million displaced people could actually safely start returning home. ”

“ This is something that is of interest, I think, to all of us, not just for humanitarian reasons, although when you read the accounts of women being raped when they are out collecting firewood, when you read just horrendous accounts of entire villages being decimated and children being murdered, that it just breaks your heart, and humanitarian concerns should be sufficient, but we also have a strong national security interest. ”

“ Recent reports indicate that in the past few weeks alone, more than 20,000 people have been displaced. There are also indications that the Janjaweed, recognizing that the AU forces, the African Union forces, are not particularly effective, have started targeting them. So there is a sense of deterioration in Darfur, the situation may be getting worse, rather than better. ”

“ So, in a lot of ways, the United States government has been much more on top of this than Europeans, Canadians, and others, who oftentimes accuse the Untied States of being indifferent to the problems of the third world. ”

“ We're going to have to supply and rally, bridging money and forces for the AU throughout this year, because, since it's sort of in lame-duck status, the Janjaweed recognize that AU forces are not particularly effective, they may become more and more of a target. ”

“ And, we're going to have to really force other countries like Canada, Australia, some of the European countries that are not engaged in peace-keeping in other places, or at least are not immediately involved in major activity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, as we are, to deliver the troops that are needed. ”

“ It's known that at least 2 million people have been displaced. The administration early on in this tragedy acknowledged that this was genocide that was taking place. I think there has been broad recognition in the international community that the behavior of the Sudanese government has been scandalous. The rationale that has provided from the Sudanese government for what has been taking place is that there is a battle going on between Sudanese government and rebels that operate within the area. ”