(International Herald Tribune) Panel urges creation of genocide alert system

[Guest guest]

To think, this was proposed maybe a decade ago...http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/08/america/genocide.php

Panel urges creation of genocide alert system

By Knowlton

Monday, December 8, 2008

WASHINGTON:

Declaring the prevention of genocide " an achievable goal, " a task force

that includes several prominent figures close to President-elect Barack

Obama recommended Monday that an interagency group be created to

analyze threats, work with other countries and coordinate action in

places like Darfur. " Preventing genocide and mass atrocities is a truly difficult issue,

and there has to be a different approach, " Madeleine Albright, the

former secretary of state and a co-chairwoman of the task force, said

in a telephone interview. The challenge, she said, is " to develop a

system within the United States government where there will be a group

of people whose main job it will be to stay on top of these particular

issues. " Albright is an Obama supporter and adviser. Also on the panel is a

close political adviser of the president-elect, Tom Daschle, the former

Senate majority leader, who is said to be Obama's choice for secretary

of health and human services. The group consulted several people linked

to the Obama team. , chief national security spokeswoman for Obama,

welcomed the report, but would say only that the president-elect was

" committed to strengthening U.S. leadership and international efforts

to prevent and respond to genocide and other humanitarian crises. " Adding heft to the panel's prescriptions was the presence on the

panel of Cohen, a former Republican senator who was defense

secretary in the Clinton administration, and Zinni, former

chief of the U.S. Central Command.But Albright said that military involvement was just one of several

possible tools considered in the report, which emphasizes early

detection and diplomatic efforts to prevent crises. " We needed to have a choice between doing nothing and sending in the Marines, " Albright said.Several top Obama appointees have taken hard-line positions on the

genocide in Sudan's Darfur region, including Rice, the United

Nations ambassador-designate, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton,

nominated as secretary of state.Rice and another Obama foreign-policy adviser, Tony Lake, held

senior posts in the Clinton administration and have said they regretted

the failure to halt the Rwandan genocide of 1994.The panel called for the creation of an interagency Atrocities

Prevention Committee at the National Security Council, which would be

headed by the retired general if he is confirmed by the

Senate. It would analyze threats, help coordinate diplomatic and other

measures, and develop international responses to emerging genocide

threats. said last year that in chaotic places like Darfur,

" there is an application for military forces. " But Obama has been more

cautious, speaking of U.S. " help " for Darfur but not of direct

intervention.And the risks and high costs of intervention in a chaotic region

might appear dissuasive at a time when the United States is already

engaged in two wars.Albright said that, while she was not speaking for him, she expected

Obama to give the subject serious attention. (She also said that while

she had " no ambitions " of any post in the Obama administration, " I will

be helpful in any way I can. " ) The group calls for an early-warning

system on worldwide risks of genocide, with input from the country's

intelligence agencies. Acute warning of looming crises would trigger

automatic policy review. " While there are things like volcanic genocide where there's just an

eruption " that is not foreseen, Albright said, " there are actually some

patterns to be seen. " The report recommends making genocide prevention and response a part

of military planning, defense doctrine and training, while at the same

time redoubling U.S. support for international partners like the United

Nations and the African Union, both of which are involved in Darfur.Obama addressed genocide in the second presidential debate. " When genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening

somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us, "

he said, before adding: " We're not going to be able to be everywhere

all the time. That's why it's so important for us to be able to work in

concert with our allies. " In Darfur, Obama said, " we could be providing logistical support,

setting up a no-fly zone at relatively little cost to us, but we can

only do it if we can help mobilize the international community and

lead. " The task force was sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace, the

American Academy of Diplomacy and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.