Dear Madeleine: How Can We Stop Genocide?

Is this ironic? In a recent issue of the Parade Magazine Sunday supplement, I found this under "Newsmakers." Madeleine Albright, of all people, withholder of help to the victims of the Rwandan genocide, supposedly gives advice on how to stop genocide. Check out her newest position title.

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HOW CAN WE STOP GENOCIDE?
Ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is co-chair of the new Genocide Prevention Task Force. She spoke with us about today's toughest diplomatic problem.

Why does the world seem too paralyzed to act when atrocities begin?
Organizing an outside military intervention is challenging. Nations are reluctant to risk troops' lives in a struggle remote from their own territory or direct interests.

Are the countries where genocides occur receptive to action from the outside?
Governments typically invoke the principle of sovereignty to block external interference. Other countries allow this to stand because they don't want their own human rights records scrutinized. We've seen this in Darfur.

But there has been a huge global outcry about Darfur. Why hasn't this pressure forced an end to the killings?
There are ongoing international efforts, but these continue to be obstructed by the Sudanese government and its allies. The lastest example is the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force, which is faced with Sudanese interference as well as logistical and operational challenges.

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My reaction to this is that we know there are problems out there (the recent killings in Kenya are as ghastly as what we've learned about those in Rwanda and sound as though they could be ongoing). Her responses to the questions sound as much like excuses as they do reasons. What are the ongoing international efforts? Have they all failed for the same reason? Which countries are helping? Which countries are not? Are any countries abetting the genocide? How can we stop genocide? She certainly hasn't answered the title question.

I know this article is limited because of space, but I don't think it really tells us much. I'd like to see it get one of those two-page treatments, with tough questions posed. I'll write to Parade and suggest as much.