The U.S. Role

The U.S. Role

Despite accusations from activists and some in Congress that the United States has not done enough to end the crisis in Darfur, the U.S. government is the only government to declare the situation in the western region of Sudan "genocide" and has provided, along with the European Union, a large portion of the funding for peacekeeping in the region.

"We concluded -- I concluded -- that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility," then-Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September 2004.

Powell's announcement, in part a response to political pressure from Congress and made after his June 2004 trip to Darfur, was the result of months of investigation and discussion within the State Department.

Since Powell's announcement, which echoed the declaration made months earlier by Congress that genocide was indeed taking place in Darfur, the United States has pledged $1.7 billion to the conflict.

"I am pleased to announce that the United States has already met that pledge," Deputy Secretary of the State Robert Zoellick told the World Bank in March 2006.

Much of the funds have been spent on food and supplies, according to the State Department, and on aircrafts to help transport African Union peacekeepers in the region.

The United States also provides the camps and other facilities for AU troops, according to Charles Snyder, a senior representative on Sudan for the State Department.

"We basically provided literally, the camps and facilities through contractors, for the AU force to live in. We provided contractor assistance, as well as I think we're up to three, uniform people in various key positions," said Snyder.

In February 2006, President Bush sent Congress an additional request for $514 million for humanitarian and peacekeeping programs in Sudan, including $161 million for peacekeeping in Darfur, $150 million for food aid, and $78 million for non-food and reconstruction.

The House and Senate have passed their own versions of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, aimed at bringing stability to the war torn region by holding the Sudanese government accountable for civilian deaths, proposing economic sanctions, and imposing travel bans on those suspected of having a hand in the genocide.

But for some in Congress, the reaction of the U.S. government has been too little and too late in coming. The Senate adopted a separate resolution (S. Res. 383) in February 2006 that requested additional North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Darfur, as well as a stronger U.N. peacekeeping force with a robust mandate to protect civilians.

"I don't think that the issue right now is U.S. troops. The issue is U.S. leadership," Sen. Barak Obama, D-Ill., told the NewsHour at the time. "[E]ven if the U.N. finally does authorize a larger force, let's say of 20,000, it may take a year, year and a half to create that force and get it on the ground. In the interim, having NATO forces there that could be supplied by some of the middle powers, Canada, Australia, others that have experience in peacekeeping would be absolutely crucial."

A month later, President Bush also called for additional NATO forces in Darfur.

"It's going to require a NATO stewardship, planning, facilitating, organizing, probably double the number of peacekeepers that are there now in order to start bringing some sense of security," he said.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said his forces will not enter Darfur until greater stability has been established and even then they will likely only arrive under the auspices of a larger UN force.

"I do not see a NATO force on the ground," Scheffer told the NewsHour in late March. "What I could see is that NATO allies, individual allies, would participate in a possible UN mission. I don't exclude that at all, but NATO as such and NATO as an organization will not put a force on the ground in Darfur."

Despite the differences between the U.S. and NATO over the role of international forces in the devastated region, the U.S. has taken at least one concrete step in the diplomatic arena to try and break the political impasse over Darfur. The State Department appointed Roger Winter, former executive director of the U.S. Committee on Refugees, as a special representative of Deputy Secretary Zoellick in Sudan in July 2005.

Winter began advising the Sudanese government and assisting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on policy related to Darfur and Sudan. Since his appointment, Winter, who has attended peace talks hosted in the Nigerian city of Abuja, has been urging rebel groups and the Sudanese government to compromise and make peace.

Still, critics argue, the Bush administration should do more.

On the year anniversary of the administration's declaration of genocide in Darfur, a coalition of supporters gathered outside the White House to condemn the failure of the country's political leadership.

The Center for American Progress has criticized the administration for being too slow to label the Darfur crisis genocide and has ridiculed the government for allowing African nations to play the leading role in ending the crisis.

The Save Darfur Coalition, comprised of more than 150 groups representing more than 130 million Americans, is promoting a campaign aimed at urging President Bush to support an international presence in that region of the Sudan devastated by civil war and genocide.