Obama Absent on Darfur

“For months, the White House has been saying that President Obama would personally roll out the results of his administration’s long-delayed Sudan Policy Review, which will officially set the direction of U.S. policy for Darfur and South Sudan, a region that will soon decide whether to become an independent country. Now, the review is finally here. It will be announced by Hillary Clinton, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and the U.S. envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration. Obama does not plan to attend, most likely because the president’s political handlers don’t want to further associate him with a policy that has been an ongoing public-relations disaster,” says Barron Young Smith of The New Republic. He says this approach is a shame because it signals to the Sudan, and the world, that Obama is disengaged with the issue. He says it is a stark contrast to the concerned speeches Obama made about Darfur prior to getting elected.