DARFUR UPDATE: Some good news:

Commitment brings total U.S. contribution to nearly $300 million

The United States government will contribute an additional $188.5 million in emergency assistance to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Darfur in western Sudan, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Andrew Natsios, announced June 3.

Speaking at a Darfur donors’ conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Natsios said the pledge brings the total U.S. contribution for Darfur to nearly $300 million since February 2003.

The United States has been actively pursuing an end to the fighting in Darfur for more than a year, Natsios said.

Still a long way to go, but there’s also this:

WASHINGTON – The United States said Wednesday it was “deeply disturbed” at clashes in Sudan’s western Darfur region and renewed demands for Khartoum to act immediately to rein in pro-government militias blamed for much of the violence.

It may take more than opening our mouths and wallets to get traction here, though:

N’DJAMENA (AFP) Jun 04, 2004

The Sudanese air force Friday bombed a market in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, [reported] a mediator in Chad trying to bring about an end to a conflict which has sparked a serious humanitarian crisis.

Sigh.

UPDATE: More here:

Forty-five Members of Congress have signed a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urging him to travel to Darfur, Sudan, to help end the genocide that is taking place in the region, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA).

Wolf, who already has sent two letters of his own to Annan urging him to go to Darfur, organized the joint letter.

It sounds like he’s not getting any more response to his letters than Sissy Willis has gotten. Guess they’re all too busy shredding documents in Kofi’s office to keep up with the correspondence. . . .