The next entangling alliance that will snag the Elect's administration is most likely to arise from Africa. In one of numerous wrong-headed moves former Secretary of Defense Rumsfield committed us to Africom and the Elect is not likely to disband the extension of an American sphere of influence.
Not surprisingly human rights groups are already clamoring for the Elect to get involved in an area that has no payback for Americans, but a great deal of potential blowback from, in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, where government forces have waged a bloody war against militias that some international critics have characterized as genocide. Either this fiasco or one very similar will plague us during the Elect's administration.
Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has agreed to al cease-fire with rebels, which could give the U.S. an opening if we would be foolish enough to take the bait.
Darfur activist John Prendergast's ENOUGH organization is a project of the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank run by Obama's transition co-chairman, John Podesta.
During the presidential campaign, Obama called the crisis in Darfur "a collective stain on our national and human conscience" and said he would make ending it a priority on "day one."
That sounds like a commitment to me; we are doomed to repeat mistakes of getting involved in the region as before.
There is no legitimate American interest, safety, or concern in the region.
We can do simple things that do not further entangle us in other people's issue. The Elect's administration can strengthen the current arms embargo and continue to support investigations by the International Criminal Court into war crimes by al-Bashir, leading Sudanese officials and certain members of rebel groups. Other than lead a moral effort, our duty is done to the region.
The primary responsibility should be borne by China, which has vast oil interests in Sudan. Other than unnecessarily provoking the Chinese Americans do not need the additional burden of Darfur.
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