NOFX said:
Gian you did not disprove that there was no Sudan Genocide, its painstakingly obvious there is a genocide:
http://www.darfurgenocide.org/
You cant say your the better debater, you need someone to say it for you. Thats like voting for yourself. I think that Rakedog is a better debater.
600,000 lives depend on our actions... these are our actions.. I never said there wasn't any genocide. But we have our eyes on the situation and are pressuring the Sudanese to stop these attacks..
WE ARE DOING OUR PART!
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/050226/2005022635.html
"The Department Of State spokesman Richard Boucher, in a question and answer session said yesterday: The United States is taking a number of actions to support the comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan. We think the agreement provides a sound basis for achieving stability and national unity throughout Sudan, particularly with respect to Darfur and the areas still affected by conflict. And we urge both sides to implement the agreement fully and rapidly and to seize this opportunity to solve the crisis in Darfur.
A few things we've done diplomatically. We've strengthened our diplomatic presence by appointing Ambassador David Kaeuper .. as the charge d'affaires of the American Embassy in Khartoum. Ambassador Kaeuper has arrived in the Sudanese capital. He will engage the Sudanese Government on critical issues, including the crisis in Darfur, implementing the comprehensive peace agreement, delivering lifesaving humanitarian aid to millions of Sudanese threatened by displacement and food shortages. The Embassy has also sent an official to southern Sudan with a view to establishing a U.S. diplomatic presence there.
Second -- or third, I guess -- the United States has named former Ambassador to Sudan Donald Petterson as its representative to the Abiye Commission. That Commission is responsible for resolving border issues in the Abiye region and that was one of the subjects, as you remember, a separate protocol included with the comprehensive peace accord.
In addition, we plan to name a senior official to the Assessment and Evaluation Commission which will be established to monitor and report on implementation of the agreement.
We urge the parties to establish this and other commissions called for in the agreement as quickly as possible.
The United States is committed to working very closely with the international community to provide assistance and promote peace, security and reconciliation in Sudan. We take this opportunity to underscore our grave concerns about the violence and atrocities in Darfur. Darfur remains a major priority and the United States will continue its strong support for the African Union mission in Darfur.
The United States will not fully normalize relations with Sudan until the situation in Darfur has stabilized.
QUESTION: Have you said that before, that you won't fully normalize relations until Darfur stabilizes?
BOUCHER: I think so. I'm not sure we've used exactly those words, but we've said that they can't expect to see the kind of benefits, diplomatic and financial benefits, that would normally accompany this agreement as long as the situation in Darfur continues.
QUESTION: So then you've given up -- a couple of weeks ago you told us that you were reviving your effort to impose UN sanctions on Sudan, notably on its petroleum industry. Have you thrown in the towel on that?
BOUCHER: No, we have continued to pursue a draft UN resolution that continues to be under discussion up in New York. It includes targeted sanctions and the possibility of further measures in other areas such as petroleum.
QUESTION: But not actually -- it's just a possibility down the line, not actually --
BOUCHER: I think that was the language that was worked out is targeted sanctions now and then noting specifically for the UN Security Council to identify specifically that possibility of further measures. I'm not -- that's a paraphrase. I don't have the exact language in front of me. But we continue to pursue a UN resolution. We think that the issues right now before the UN Security Council on Sudan are very important. It is -- the north-south agreement, how we support that, the peacekeepers that need to be there, but we don't think we can act on that without taking into account the situation in Darfur and therefore think that Darfur needs to be part of that resolution as well. And that's in the draft that we've been consulting with other governments on..
QUESTION: Earlier today there was a forum discussion at Brookings Institute -- Institution, and the whole question about the war crimes trial, should it be at the ICC or in Tanzania, did come up, and one of the difficulties remains -- or a question -- is China. Have you approached the Chinese Government with respect to what their activities have been in Sudan, and perhaps either jawboned them or leaned heavily on them?
BOUCHER: You guys are always telling me about these interesting meetings I can't go to because I'm preparing for the briefing. But the issue of accountability for the crimes, the atrocities, we would say, the genocide that has been committed in Darfur, is one that's high on our agenda. We have discussed it extensively with other members of the Security Council. We've discussed it quite a bit with key African partners. We've discussed it with the Europeans during, for example, the Secretary's trip to Europe. I don't know at this point whether it came up during the President's trip or not. You'll have to check with the White House on that.
We all agree, I think everybody that we've talked to agrees, horrible things have happened in Darfur. There needs to be accountability for those crimes and atrocities, that most people agree there needs to be international accountability for that, and we're still discussing what's the most appropriate way to put that together to make sure that violations of the international humanitarian and human rights law are punished.
QUESTION: Can I follow up, Richard? U.S. Ambassador Prosper took part from the State Department in that discussion. Will he be given further duties, especially for war crimes trial and/or for other activities in Sudan?
BOUCHER: He's got ongoing duties. He's our Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues and he is actively working this issue.
QUESTION: At the UN, the last I heard was the U.S. had just handed out elements of what it wanted in a resolution. I wondered if you can just bring us up to date on how far along this process has gotten, how close are you to a vote. And secondly --
BOUCHER: Are you talking -- there are actually two resolutions. One's the peacekeeping resolution and it includes Darfur sanctions, and the second would be a further resolution on accountability for Darfur.
QUESTION: I'm talking about the first one, the north-south peacekeeping in Darfur.
BOUCHER: Okay, let me answer that first.
BOUCHER: We circulated a draft Security Council resolution on Monday, February 14th, that would establish the UN peace support operation in Sudan and includes measures to pressure the parties to the Darfur conflict to abide by their commitments under Resolutions 1556, 1564 and 1574. As I mentioned, we're actively discussing the text with others. We're open to constructive comments and suggestions. Experts met last week to review the text and they're meeting again today. As I said, that discussion continues.
Now the second half?
QUESTION: Yeah, yeah. The top UN official on peacekeeping is here in town, and I know that he's been talking about this 10,000-strong force for north-south, but I wonder if the Bush Administration is encouraging the UN to get more involved in Darfur in any way, if there's going to be some crossover with these UN -- the peacekeeping mission.
BOUCHER: I think, first, the UN is heavily involved in Darfur and I think you'll remember that a lot of the international attention on Darfur was focused by overlapping visits from Secretary of State Powell and Secretary General Kofi Annan last summer, and that our effort to work the problems of Darfur and try to solve the problems of the people of Darfur has been very closely coordinated with the UN. The Secretary General's representative Jan Pronk reports regularly to the Security Council and we work very closely with him and other UN agencies who are working to monitor the situation, to report on the situation, to pressure the government and the rebels, as well as the UN agency involved in the provision of relief. So the UN, as a whole, is heavily involved in Darfur.
In terms of the military deployments, we do think that implementation of the north-south agreement, including the implementation by the peacekeeping presence that will be sent to Sudan in order to implement the north-south agreement, that that process is stabilizing for the country and contributes to, we would hope, a solution to Darfur as well. But the specific military presence in Darfur at this point is an African Union mission. They're now up to 1,900-and-some forces there. They have traveled extensively, reported extensively. We continue to support them with financial support, with expertise. Many others do as well. But for the moment, that's the way it settles out."
Rakedog is not a better debater as I:
1) Back myself up
2) Provide proper evidence