A disturbing day, as lies are exposed and murders continue...

Fresh from his trip to Chad and Darfur, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has a nice op-ed in today's Washington Post, including this interesting idea for a force to protect civilians in Darfur:

"The crisis in Darfur is a regional problem that demands an African remedy. It requires forces capable of providing security in a timely and credible manner. Such a remedy is available. Forces led by the African Union (AU) are already deploying to the region. They can be complemented by troops from Khartoum and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which stands ready to provide thousands of well-trained soldiers to protect the people of Darfur.

The Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is in a unique position to help. During one of the world's longest running civil wars, the SPLA fought Sudanese forces to a standstill. In June the Sudanese government and SPLM signed a historic peace accord that includes creating SPLA-GOS (government of Sudan) integrated units. Creating a security force for Darfur would merely accelerate this peace-building initiative."

However, Human Rights Watch today highlights the problem with this kind of solution with a disturbing report that the government of Sudan at this very moment is misleading the international community by claiming to be disarming and disbanding the Janjaweed, when in reality, they are simply giving them government uniforms and assigning them to guard the very people they have been attacking.

In another disturbing report, the government of Sudan today continued to use helicopter gunships to press attacks against black African villages. I wonder how many people they'll be able to kill before the end of this month when the U.N. meets again to consider (not necessarily implement) sanctions that soem have suggested would have little effect anyways.