The G Word

AP:

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union said Tuesday that it would be up to U.N. experts to determine whether killings and other atrocities in the Sudanese province of Darfur amounted to genocide.

The U.S. Congress and some humanitarian groups have accused the Sudanese government of genocide, but the Bush administration has held off on making a judgment.

An EU military-civilian team that visited the region last week reported Monday that atrocities were being committed on a large scale, but declined to classify them as genocide. Team leader Pieter Feith stressed, however, that his trip was only five days and was not an expert mission.

"It's up to the United Nations... to make this decision," an EU official said Tuesday on customary condition of anonymity. "The aim of his mission was not to see if this was genocide or not. The aim was to see how the EU could further support" resolving the crisis.

Customary condition of anonymity? Makes it sound as if the EU official wanted to use his name, but ancient journalistic customs prevent such a thing. Let's not allow the fact that an accusation is anonymous to color our judgement. A person could be proud to cede such decisions to the UN. The story goes on:

The United Nations describes the 18-month conflict in Darfur as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Pro-government Arab militia have waged a counterinsurgency campaign that has seen widespread destruction of villages and the displacement of about 1 million people. Some 30,000 people have been killed.

One million people displaced, tens of thousands killed, and hundreds or thousands more raped- the AP fails to mention that aspect in this particular story. Is that genocide? The EU isn't qualified to say. Apparently, the UN is the repository of such expertise.

Let's get Hans Blix to tell us. He can spend six months down there and produce nuanced reports on the quality of cooperation he's receiving from the Sudanese government. "Today's cooperation alert level is yellow. We weren't allowed into Darfur, but we were provided with mint tea within 15 minutes of asking for it, which is a very positive sign. It's important that we give these inspections enough time to let the Sudanese finish off whatever it is that they're doing. And I think the Sudanese foreign minister really likes me."

Sadly, President Bush is no better on this issue, but at least the United States has a good excuse for not wanting to commit to military action or threats at this time. That would be our troop commitment to Iraq.

The story's astonishing conclusion:

Among the recommendations made by Feith, an adviser to EU foreign policy representative Javier Solana, was a suggestion that EU governments and other countries, such as Egypt, send an advisory group of 25-30 police officers to work with Sudanese police.

Yes, that will help. If only someone had sent an advisory group of 25-30 police officers to Germany during the Holocaust. There'd be no need for Israel.