NYT: 'Obama Drops Plan to Isolate Sudan Leaders'

The first news articles about the new U.S. policy on Sudan trickled out online last night and landed on the front pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times this morning.

“Obama Drops Plan to Isolate Sudan Leaders,” the NYT proclaimed.

Reporters note that the new policy includes a mixture of “incentives and pressures,” a phrase often used by President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, Maj. General Scott Gration. But in the seven months since he was appointed, and absent a clear policy line from the administration, General Gration has routinely articulated the need for an approach that  relies almost exclusively on positive reinforcement of the Sudanese regime.  (He even described his strategy as one in which he would hand out “cookies and gold stars” to encourage Khartoum to abide by its commitments.)

Secretary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Rice, and General Gration will unveil the policy at a press conference on Monday, deliberately showing a united front after months of internal bickering about whether to ease up on Khartoum. It seems Gration got his way. The policy will lay out a plan to engage with the Sudanese regime and “[provide] Khartoum with a path to improved relations with the United States if it begins to address long-standing U.S. concerns,” according to the Post.

Administration officials stress that the plan will not make concessions to Khartoum without seeing proof that the ruling party is resolving the conflict in Darfur, where nearly 3 million people are displaced by state-sponsored violence, and implementing its side of the 2005 peace deal with the South.  To emphasize that the U.S. will be firm with Khartoum, Gration frequently touts the U.S. plan to hold Khartoum to a strict timeline for implementing the 2005 deal. But what Gration fails to acknowledge is that the original peace deal had a timeline – which the government of Sudan has continuously disregarded.

The evidence from the first seven months of Gration’s tenure – and even more importantly, the 20-year reign of the NCP – is unambiguous: Khartoum is not a partner that can be cajoled into behaving in the interests of its people. The administration’s only accomplishment thus far was to negotiate a partial return of humanitarian groups that had been expelled by the regime. This is hardly a “victory,” but rather a return to a miserable status quo for millions of Sudanese who have been driven from their homes and are now warehoused in miserable camps.

The regime has shown time and again that it will do whatever it takes to maintain its grip on power. Easing up on Khartoum simply gives President Bashir and his close-knit circle of advisors (many of whom rose to power alongside Bashir in the 1989 coup) the chance to stall and make excuses, while fomenting violence and undermining peace efforts behind-the-scenes. With continued, devastating effect for the people of Sudan.

Photo: U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Maj. General Scott Gration (AP)

• Darfur and Southern Sudan
• Sudan Now
• War Crimes