Darfur vs. Martha Stewart

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Just go read it.

…also, Eric Reeves’ latest dispatch on Sudan is out, so go read that too. For those who still think the recent ICC referral is going to “deter” the genocidaires in Darfur, consider this:

A Darfuri in exile, with exceptionally good contacts on the ground in Darfur, also reports that in the wake of the UN’s referral of Darfur war crimes to the ICC, there is a “feeling among the NGO and humanitarian aid community that the Janjaweed would escalate their attacks on foreigners.” This source also refers to Khartoum’s opening of “camps for training foreign Janjaweed and Arab mujahadeen from other countries to fight [foreigners]. These people may now target the foreign [humanitarian aid] community in Darfur.”

Out of control! Do these sound like the sort of folks, by the way, who will be deterred by a bit more “diplomatic pressure” from Robert Zoellick? Or by a UN resolution that freezes their assets and slaps down travel bans? No, clearly not. And the situation is getting worse by the day: starvation, death, destruction, it’s all there. Meanwhile, what the hell is wrong with Condoleeza Rice? From the Times today: “Ms. Rice did not hold out much hope that the administration’s strategy would accomplish a great deal. The Sudanese leaders, she said, ‘have learned that much of what we consider terribly wrong, they can get away with.'” Not holding out much hope? Then for Christ’s sake, Condi, it’s time to try something else.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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