After debating for months on whether or not I should write a letter to the current president, I found myself browsing the African Policy page on www.whitehouse.gov to which I realized, not ONE single main page headline dealt with mass atrocities.
They were all headlines promoting heath and awareness of malaria and financial/economic benefits we are providing to the country. Immediately I felt take aback that the primary objective of our government was not to end the immediate threat of genocide, but to forget the mass atrocities, and focus promoting healhy lifestyles.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for the initiatives that help provide healthcare, education and financial responsibility for these countries, but if there are no people left to educate, what then? I would have hoped our president had a better sense of priority than what I have seen today. I promplty forgot about all of my reservations towards writing a letter to President Bush and wrote this letter in less than 10 minutes.
1 December 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
During the course of my daily research on African affairs, I wanted to know more about what our government was doing to protect the lives of millions of men, women and children who are being systematically killed, tortured and mutilated by the gang warfare being conducted on behalf of the Sudanese government. No one in this day and age can deny that the mass atrocities in this area constitute genocide. The north and south Sudan civil war has raged on and become much more complicated since 2005 and yet foreign policies of our government and governments like ours, have done little more than promote economic sanctions.
Economic sanctions are a step, but are certainly not the solution. I have searched the website presented by the White House and have found nothing to suggest that anything further is being heavily researched and pursued towards finding a feasible solution to this conflict. It is our responsibility, as citizens of a first world government and P-5 member of the United Nations that we continually seek out ways to promote peace around the world. There should be no question as to our responsibility for allowing genocide to continue to be allowed to ravage the country and spread like wildfire to the surrounding countries like Chad and Ethiopia.
While studying what our government finds important in regards to African Policy, I see the many great initiatives, programs and projects to promote the welfare of education and malaria resistance, even ways to support the failing financial situation and create investment opportunities for African countries. All of these issues are important, but they will all eventually fail if there are no people for which those policies apply to. The children are the next generation and they are important as their health and education is also vitally important; however, if the children are being systematically raped, forced into camps, trained as soldiers and killed by being thrown into the fires that burn their villages down, there will be nothing left to save.
As a citizen of this country, I ask that as our president, you take command and organize the people of our country to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan and other countries facing similar problems. If you just walk down the cobblestone pathways between the buildings of any college in the United States, you will see there are millions of students, just like myself, who write letters to congress or hold signs that say “Save Darfur” and other slogans. These students desperately want to help end these crises. We will never win our fight if we continue to be activists that are fractured, unorganized and spread out across the country. Our government needs to unify them, bring them a common goal and purpose and give them the ability to not lose hope that our cause is worth the time and effort we put into it. You have that power, use it.
Very truly yours,
Sara Lori Cartwright
1440 10th Street #207
Bellingham, Washington 98225
Western Washington University
www.EndingGenocide.co.cc
