A positive step to stop the slaughter...

President Bush today unveiled a set of sanctions, designed to effect the stopping of the carnage that is occurring in Darfur:

Traveling in Darfur a few days later, I got a whirlwind tour of hell. These "defense operations" involve the use of local militias to destroy village after village, sending millions into densely populated camps. The outskirts of those camps are ruled by brutal mounted militias that use rape and murder as tools of intimidation.

During that visit, it was clear that 15,000 to 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers, armed with attack helicopters and a mandate to protect civilians, could make a difference. That mission was eventually approved by the U.N. Security Council. But leaders of the regime have obstructed the deployment of that force at every turn, fearful it might eventually be used to arrest them on charges of genocide.

Yesterday's welcome announcement by President Bush of stronger American sanctions against Sudan, and new efforts in the Security Council to internationalize those sanctions, is an attempt to break this resistance. Within the administration, most concede these actions by themselves will not be enough. But the effective use of this stick -- banks expelling Sudanese accounts worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- might make the threat of other, heftier sticks more credible in the future.

While some of the usual suspects are cool to the idea of sanctions for the Sudan, the U.S. has found a heretofore unlikely ally in its quest to quell conditions in Darfur:

there is also a gathering coalition for stronger action that includes the United States, Britain, Denmark, some African countries -- and now France. The new government of Nicolas Sarkozy is reviewing its Darfur policy and has signaled a willingness to join the U.N. peacekeeping force and perhaps to establish humanitarian corridors in eastern Chad.

It is my hope that this is the beginning of a broader effort that will stop the slaughter of innocents. '

After all, freedom from tyranny isn't just for Iraqis. If one believes in the worthiness for fighting for freedom, one must believe it so for all the world's citizens.