Citizen Sign On Letter To President Obama

Subject: Bold, agenda-setting leadership

Dear President Obama,

We need your continued and urgent leadership to address the immediate humanitarian crisis in Darfur and to achieve long term peace through a political solution for all of Sudan.  

According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Sudanese regime's March 4 expulsion of 13 international aid organizations has put \"well over 1 million people at life-threatening risk.\" Even if this new humanitarian crisis can be averted, a simple return to the harrowing pre-March 4 conditions in Darfur is simply unacceptable. And the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the devastating conflict in southern Sudan is fraying by the day. A return to war there would be catastrophic.  Meanwhile, the Sudanese regime is succeeding in defying the international community. The United States must seize the initiative in setting the agenda for peace.

Your administration must lead in constructing a multilateral strategy for peace in Darfur and all of Sudan by

• establishing an inclusive peace process for Darfur,
• re-vitalizing implementation of the CPA and the dangerously neglected Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement, and
• ending Sudan's proxy war with Chad.

To that end, your special envoy, General Scott Gration should focus on building a multilateral coalition of countries with significant leverage. It is vital that the administration work closely with other governments in dealing with Sudan; a reliance on bilateral diplomacy will provide Khartoum the opportunity to play one party off the other, as it has historically done with great success.

To do this, General Gration will need your personal and direct engagement.

Ultimately, a strategy for peace means presenting the Sudanese regime with a choice:

• Behind Door One:  If the Government of Sudan permits unrestricted humanitarian access, secures peace in Darfur, fully implements the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for South Sudan, ensures free and fair elections in Sudan, and removes the indicted President, a clear process toward normalization of relations with the U.S. will be mapped out.

OR


• Behind Door Two:  If President Bashir and his party renege on recent humanitarian commitments and continue to undermine efforts at peace, a series of escalating costs will ensue, including diplomatic isolation, targeted multi-lateral economic sanctions, an effective multilateral arms embargo, and if necessary to stop massive loss of civilian life, targeted military action.

If the benefits of Door One and the consequences of Door Two are meaningful, the chance for peace in Sudan increases dramatically. The missing ingredients in efforts to date for Darfur and CPA implementation have been adequate leverage and lack of strategic vision for resolving comprehensively the country's conflicts.  

Mr. President, now is the time for bold agenda-setting leadership to help ensure that Sudan chooses the most mutually beneficial path, and to prepare real consequences if it does not.   

In either case, you and your Administration should work diligently to effectively mobilize and coordinate the international community in order to present a united diplomatic front to Sudan.

I know that these efforts will require real political capital, but the human costs of inaction are far too high to endure.  Thank you for your efforts thus far. I look forward to seeing even more leadership as conditions in Darfur progress.  

Thank you.