WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today released an op-ed regarding the ongoing genocide and security situation in Darfur, Sudan. The op-ed is below and is 473 words long.

For too long the government of Sudan has controlled the situation in the Darfur region by thwarting diplomatic efforts and refusing to accept a robust international peacekeeping force. The situation in Darfur is deteriorating and urgent measures are needed in order to protect civilians and curb ongoing human rights abuses.

In addition, regional instability is growing as sections of neighboring Chad and the Central Africa Republic are being sucked into the vortex of violence. The Sudanese government and its brutal militia henchmen have prevented the implementation of measures to stop the slaughter and displacement of innocent civilians. The existing African Union force in Darfur, which has only 7,000 troops to patrol an area the size of France, is vastly undermanned and has been effectively neutered by the Sudanese government. Upwards of 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced since 2003, a situation which is entirely unacceptable.

Diplomatic efforts led by Special Envoy Andrew Natsios are an important and necessary part of achieving lasting peace in the region; however, we must also be tough with the Khartoum regime because innocent lives are at stake. The implementation of punitive measures such as the targeted sanctions and NATO assistance included in the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act are far overdue. The people who are conducting the genocide in Darfur must pay a price for their actions as long as they continue to carry out attacks on civilians and refuse to accept international peacekeeping forces.

In addition to targeted sanctions and a strong international peacekeeping force, divestment from companies whose revenues support the Sudanese government is an important step for states and the American people to take. Divestment would send a powerful message to the Sudanese government that the American people refuse to support the ongoing genocide.

There has also been discussion in international circles of the need to establish no-fly zones over Darfur. The creation of a no-fly zone in the skies above Darfur not only could halt all Sudanese military flights, but also would inhibit attacks by marauding militias on remaining villages, refugee camps and civilian convoys.

It is worth remembering the NATO no-fly zone over Kosovo shielded an innocent population from genocidal slaughter by Milosevic's minions. And that state divestment played an important role in crippling the despicable apartheid regime in South Africa. These measures are tried and true, and they should be used now to save the lives of innocent civilians suffering in Darfur.

Now is the time for America to show its greatness by acting with compassion for those who are suffering and by refusing to be complacent in the Sudanese government’s attacks on innocent civilians. “Not on my watch,” wrote President Bush on the margins of a White House memo concerning genocide, and now is the time that we follow through on that pledge.