Hollywood and liberal elites had such high hopes for Obama, but some are beginning to lose patience with him.
In today's Wall Street Journal, Mia Farrow criticizes Obama's failure to address the genocide in Sudan.
Farrow writes:
For seven years, the people of Darfur have been pleading for protection and for justice. They do not believe either peace or justice can come while [Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir]—orchestrator of their suffering—remains president of Sudan. Nor do they believe "locally owned accountability" is remotely possible under the current regime.
When Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, hope abounded, even in Darfur's bleak refugee camps. Darfuris believed this son of Africa could understand their suffering, end the violence that has taken so much from them, and bring Mr. Bashir to justice. The refugees hoped that "Yes we can" was meant for them too. They believed President Obama would bring peace and protection to Darfur and would settle for nothing less than true justice.
I have held new babies named Obama and watched as Darfuris began to dream again. Fatima Haroun, a 24-year-old widow and mother, told me the day was surely near when the refugees could leave the filth and hunger of the camps and safely return to the ashes of their villages. First, she said, they would honor their lost loved ones; they would search the ashes for bones, wrap them in best cloths, and bury them with respect. They would gather wood and tall grasses to rebuild their homes, they would sing new songs and prepare their fields for planting. Hunger and terror would go away. Omar al-Bashir would rot in jail.
Such hopes did not last long.
Nearly three million souls are still waiting in wretched camps across Darfur and eastern Chad. Sudanese government bombs are still falling, murderers and rapists still roam free, and the refugees have not felt safe for a very long time. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has expressed concern over increasing levels of violence in Darfur.
In their darkest hours and through losses too grievous to fathom, the world has repeatedly abandoned the people of Darfur. Over more than seven years, two American presidents have used the word "genocide" to describe what has unfolded there, but they have done little to end it.
It is past time for us to step up and accept our moral obligation to protect a defenseless people. The American people should urge Mr. Gration and the Obama administration to lead a diplomatic offensive to convince the world to isolate Mr. Bashir as a fugitive from justice, and to wholeheartedly support the only body offering Darfur's people a measure of authentic justice: the International Criminal Court.
I feel sorry for all the people, such as Farrow, who were duped into believing they could trust Obama. They were naive to believe the inexperienced, undisciplined, and incapable Obama would deliver on his promises. It must be so disillusioning to realize that Obama's words were empty political rhetoric.
When it comes to addressing the atrocities in Darfur, it means nothing that Obama is a "son of Africa." He doesn't have time for Darfur, but he does have plenty of time to drag around the golf course.
I don't get it.
What is with the leaders of the world that they ignore genocide?
How is it that "never again" happens again and again?
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