N.C. congressmen visit Darfur

They say U.S. is needed to lead

WASHINGTON -- Following a trip to the Darfur region of Sudan, U.S. Reps. Brad Miller and G.K. Butterfield said this week that the United States should consider force if diplomacy fails to end the genocide in the African nation.

"As a last resort, if we must use force, we're going to have to do so in order to save millions of people being slaughtered," said Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat.

"I think we need to consider force," said Miller, a Raleigh Democrat.

But both said the United States cannot act without the backing of other nations. And Miller worried that the United States' role in Iraq has eroded the moral authority it needs to persuade other nations to help in Sudan.

Miller and Butterfield were among nearly a dozen members of Congress joining a bipartisan delegation led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland. A civil war between north and south Sudan ended in a peace agreement earlier this decade, but there continues to be strife in the nation's western Darfur region.

There, climate change is pushing the Sahara Desert south, Miller said. Arabic nomadic tribes are clashing with ethnically African pastoral tribes in the search for water. To date, more than 200,000 people have been killed, though some put the number at more than 400,000.

The Congressional Black Caucus, of which Butterfield is a member, has been leading the push for Sudan in Washington.

While in Sudan, the group met with political leaders and the commander of the African Union peacekeeping mission.

They visited a refugee camp health clinic. They also decided, against the advice of their security patrol, to venture among the thatched straw huts of the camp and talk with refugees.

There, they drove fast (to avoid militia members living among refugees) through the sand and saw children clinging to their mothers. Men were noticeably absent, Butterfield said.

The African Union has 5,000 troops patrolling the region to protect more than a million inhabitants, Miller said, a ratio he called "woefully inadequate."

The United States has imposed economic sanctions on Sudan and is reportedly poised to add additional sanctions. But other countries, including those in Europe, continue to work with the country. China, in particular, buys nearly two-thirds of Sudan's oil.

Butterfield and Miller said other countries must join the economic sanctions and help persuade Sudan to accept an international force of peacekeepers under the United Nations.