March 29, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The United States will impose tough new measures against Sudan, likely within days, to try to force it to change course on Darfur and aims to pressure Khartoum militarily by helping rebuild forces in the south, U.S. officials said.
…Military options like a no-fly zone over Darfur — which Britain wants — or a forced intervention have been ruled out for now, but the Pentagon has done some “back of the envelope” calculations on what might be needed, a defense official said.
…Aside from slapping travel and banking restrictions on at least three more Sudanese individuals, including a rebel leader, Washington also wants to put more pressure on splintered rebel groups in Darfur.
“You have to squeeze them all,” said the defense official. “The goal is to get both Bashir and the rebels to come to the conclusion that they are not going to get anywhere with their current course of action.“
The United States is working closely with Britain, which takes over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council next month, and is planning a new resolution on Darfur.
I’m glad that pressure is being applied on the rebels too. Putting pressure on the government alone, encourages the rebels to continue fighting and therefore drags the conflict further.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
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It may work, as it would put the squeeze on the one hand while giving a respectable way out on the other. Or it may anger the idiots at Sudan’s helm, at which point they’ll find more bloodthirsty bastards to do their dirty work.
It depends on what they care about more, their luxuries or their pride and “vision”. You never can tell in advance.
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