In a hard-hitting article, hear what Nina Shea (whom I've never met but consider a hero), has to say about Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir:
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir should hang in the halls of infamy somewhere between Hitler and Pol Pot. But few Americans recognize that he and his National Islamic Front regime are directly responsible for the death of a staggering 2.4 million of his countrymen, the displacement of seven million more, as well as the enslavement and misery of hundreds of thousands of others, including tribal people in northern Uganda. Representing the interests of only a handful of small northern tribes, Bashir’s regime has devoted itself to marginalizing and making war on Darfur and most of the rest of Sudan’s citizens since seizing power 18 years ago. . .
As president of the nation’s National Islamic Front (NIF) government and a general, Bashir is the person most responsible for the Darfur genocide, which so far has taken an estimated 400,000 lives and displaced two million western tribal people. He presides over an air force that carries out aerial bombardment and strafing of Darfur’s reed tukul villages, and a military that arms and protects the groups that torment the region by land, the Janjaweed tribal militias. His forces have attacked relief centers, refugee camps, and rebels gathered for peace talks. His senior officials have opposed the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers, and, as President Bush stated this week: “President Bashir’s actions over the past few weeks follow a long pattern of promising cooperation while finding new methods of obstruction.”
Click through for much more on Bashir, Sudan, and surrounding countries.